Access to Food; Dry Season Strategies and Household Size amongst the Bambara of Central Mali

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Periodical article

Title:	Access to Food; Dry Season Strategies and Household Size amongst the Bambara of Central Mali
Author:	Toulmin, Camilla
Year:	1986
Periodical:	IDS Bulletin
Volume:	17
Issue:	3
Period:	July
Pages:	58-66
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Mali
Subjects:	rural households food seasonality Family Life Health, Nutrition, and Medicine Cultural Roles Fertility and Infertility
External link:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1759-5436.1986.mp17003009.x/abstract
Abstract:	This article describes the seasonal variation in production and household organization in a Sahelian farming village, the Bambara village of Kala in central Mali. With the loosening of domestic responsibilities, once the harvest is stored, the dry season offers a range of income-earning activities for the individual to pursue. Those from grain surplus households can use this period to build up private sources of wealth. Grain deficit households must use dry season incomes to help them get through the next farming season. This differential capacity to make use of the dry season accentuates differences in household size and wealth. Ref., sum. also in French and Spanish.