This document summarizes a study on participatory assessment of local knowledge and preferences for shea tree ethnovarieties in Burkina Faso. The study found that women identified more shea varieties than men, and that men and women had different preferences based on intended use. Preferences also varied by ethnicity and residency status. A gender-responsive participatory approach allowed collection of deeper knowledge. The implications are that interventions to promote shea varieties must consider this local knowledge to benefit different groups including women.

1. Participatory assessment of gendered knowledge and
preferences for shea ethnovarieties in Burkina Faso
Mawa Karambiri
Bioversity International Gender Fellow, Burkina Faso
ESEE-Wagenningen 29 April 2015

2. Context
• Shea tree: in Burkina Faso, it is
central for people’s livelihoods
specifically rural women (used
for food, medicine, making
cosmetics and for sale)
• Tenure, access and control
rights and management rules
change according to gender,
ethnicity and status of
residence.

3. • Anthropogenic and environmental pressures,
threats.
• Hence, the assessment of the large amount of
biological diversity existing within the species to guide
domestication efforts in ways that respect local
priorities for the multiple goods and services it
provides
Unfortunatelythereare…

4. •What shea ethno varieties can
local men and women identify
and characterize?
•Which ethno varieties do local
men and women prefer and why?
•What are the relevance of
gender-responsive participatory
methods for investigating local
ecological knowledge and
preferences?
Researchquestions

5. Methodsofparticipatoryresearch
In two villages Bana-Bobo and Bana-
Lamogoya
Tools:
• Key informant interviews
• Matrix of Identification
• Matrix of Preferences ranking.
Group sessions:
• Gender desegregated and mixed age
group
• Ethnic group and status of residence
(Migrants/indigeneous)
• Data analysis, descriptive statistics.

6. 25differenttypes (ethnovarieties)ofshea

7. Knowledge and preferencesfor shea ethnovarietiesvary
accordingto…
Gender:
• Women identified more ethnovarieties than men
• Men favor ethnovarieties (fruit) which present suitable traits for
direct consumption while women prefer ethnovarieties rich in
butter.
Ethnicity & status of residence:
• In village 1, a native recognized less ethnovarieties than a
migrant while the opposite happened in village 2
• Migrant women prefer earlier ethnovarieties such as «precocious
shea fruit» because of the land tenure regarding their access
rights.

8. Agender-responsiveparticipatoryapproach
Table source
In the long term we can:
• Turn the research process into
active and long term knowledge
sharing between communities and
researchers.
• Allow deep connection between
research, education and
innovation.

9. As implication
Researchers and shea propagation
interventions must be attentive to
these local knowledge and
preferences to promote ethno
varieties that will yield benefits to
different segments of the local
population, including women and
marginalized groups who are highly
dependent on the species.

10. Thank you!
Learn more about shea:
http://www.wca2014.org/shea-tree-women-green-
gold/
Contact: karambirimawa@yahoo.fr