Livelihood strategies compared: private initiatives and collective efforts of Wolof women in Senegal

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Periodical article

Title:	Livelihood strategies compared: private initiatives and collective efforts of Wolof women in Senegal
Authors:	Venema, Bernhard Eijk, Jelka van
Year:	2004
Periodical:	African Studies
Volume:	63
Issue:	1
Period:	July
Pages:	51-71
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Senegal
Subjects:	Wolof livelihoods women women's organizations Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Cultural Roles Sex Roles Family Life Marital Relations and Nuptiality
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/0002018042000226157
Abstract:	This article compares two pathways that rural Wolof women in Senegal employ in the face of deteriorating living conditions caused by decreasing farming opportunities, namely, collective income-earning projects initiated by development agencies and individual trading activities. Research was carried out in the village of Medina Sabakh in the Kaolack region in 1996-1998 and 2001-2002. The article looks at the role of women's groups with special attention paid to opportunities for mutual assistance, income-earning opportunities and whether these groups constitute political capital; examines the relative contribution of private trading activities as a livelihood strategy, and looks at the role of credit in these livelihood strategies. The paper concludes that many women are members of a women's group as well as active in local trade. Trading, however, is more important for these women than being a member of a women's group. Bibliogr., notes. [ASC Leiden abstract]