Linking migration, forest and gender in Burkina Faso
Houria Djoudi (CIFOR), Catherine Pehou (CIFOR), Mathurin Zida (CIFOR)

Introduction
 Migration as an emerging issue
 In the context of remittances and
development
 Migration and environment,
particularly the impact on natural
resources (land use changes,
forests,..etc) is less considered

Migratory systems
• Human fluxes (1 or 2 ways
movements, circular
movements)
• Fluxes in goods and/or in
services, knowledge
and/or institutions
• Leads to new exchanges in
different entities
• Social networks (reciprocity
principals)
• Focusses not only monetary
fluxes
• Embedded into cultural
identities in some areas like
the Sahel

First case study
Linking gender, rights and
internal migration

Kassol
o
W 002°06’59,3" N
11°31’36,0"
Strong presence of former
migrants who have obtained
access to land (higher
integration)
Pien W 001°58’16,0" N
11°04’23,2«
Strong presence of migrants;
without access (low levels of
integration)
Nebou W 001°52’07,0 "N 11°19’00,6"
Strong presence of migrants
and new forms of access
Study Area
The main ethnic groups:
 Gurunsi/Nuni (indigenous, less than 50% of population)
 Mossi and Fulani (migrants, 50-90% of population)

The context
• Agriculture related migration
(intensification, cotton..etc)
• Drought related migration
• Livestock related mobility
(transhumance)
Sedentarisation in the central
part of Burkina Faso

The food tree based agroforestry
system (parklands, Parkia and
Shea butter trees)
 Mosaic landscapes to fulfil
multiple livelihood
objectives
 Food trees in agriculture
fields, fallows to restore soil
fertility
 Complex access rules
according to gender, class
and ethnical affiliation (tree
tenure versus land tenure)

Objective, Methods, Study Area
• Qualitative and quantitative
methods
• Direct observations of
harvesting practices and
participation in the harvest
period
• Survey with 180 women
(migrant and non migrant)
• Gurunsi/Nuni (indigenous)
• Mossi and Fulani (migrants,
over 30 years)

African locust been tree (Parkia Biglobosa)
• Safety net role (women)
• Food security,
• Regulating services (soil
fertility)
• Cultural services

Results: Access rightsAccessrightSecurity
78% migrant
women

Strategies to cope with the lack of
access
 «Illegal» harvesting
(54%)
 Secondary harvesters
(32%)
 Harvesters in the
protected forest areas
(7%)
 Provider of harvest
services (7%)

Results
• Shifts in the harvest practices

Results
• Quality/quantity issues
• Nutritional value
• Increasing the workload
of women (wood fuel )
• Substitution with
artificial condiments
(Maggi cubes)
• Conflicts

Second case study
Linking gender, and international
migration

Understand pattern of international migration and
linkgage to gender and the use of forest
 Target groups: households affected by migration
and the returnees
Mitiéridougou Sanmatenga Camp Mossi TOTAL
Migrants internes 0 50 54 104
Migrants
internationaux
0 50 46
96
Autochtones 100 0 0 100
TOTAL 100 100 100 300
Objectives and methods

For the second study we are in the
process of finalising data analysis
regarding
• Demography of migration
• Changes in Households labour
pattern (gender)
• Remittences flows

 Mobility and migration systems in
policies, interventions and
programms related to natural
ressource management?
 In a more general way linking food
security and rights?
 Migration as a livelihood and
adaptive strategy.
Conclusions