OIRED

University program empowers women through gender workshop in Mali

The West Africa IPM CRSP regional program held a 4-day gender workshop in Mali from June 15-18. The workshop, “Gender, Participatory Research, and Technology Transfer,” drew 30 researchers, extension agents, and representatives from institutions in West Africa that partner with the IPM CRSP. Participants were trained in three areas: gender awareness, gender analysis, and participative methodologies. Trainees came from Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Mali to attend the event, held at the Office of the Irrigated Perimeter of Baguinéda, a regional agricultural research and extension center outside the capital of Bamako. As part of the workshop, the participants presented IPM no-host period technology and also carried out research with 298 farmers.

Virginia Tech faculty involved:

  • Maria Elisa Christie, Program Director for WID and Gender Equity Coordinator for the IPM CRSP

  • Don Mullins, Professor of Entomology and Principal Investigator for the West Africa IPM CRSP Program

  • Miriam Rich, Communications Coordinator, IPM CRSP/OIRED

  • Carlyle Brewster, Associate Professor of Entomology

 
This is a news clip in French about the workshop by ORTM 2011, a West African cable news network. It is close to 2 minutes in length.

Related links:
  • Click on the image to see enlarged picture.

 

 

The workshop developed the gender capacity of local institutions collaborating with the IPM CRSP, and produced materials to develop a prototype for carrying out similar workshops in the future.

 

 

 

Workshop participants met with women and men farmers separately to develop activity profiles. This helped the group understand “who does what?” and farmers’ use of time and space.

 

 

 

 

Maria Elisa Christie, workshop organizer and facilitator, shares images of photos taken with children.

 

 

 

Local press interviewed Amadou Diarra, IPM Regional Coordinator, for broadcast on ORTM 2011, a West African cable news network.

 

 

 

Don Mullins, West African IPM CRSP PI, participates in a break-out group defining questions to be used in focus group discussions with farmers.

 

 

 

The workshop took place at the Office du Périmetre Irrigué de Baguinéda  in the community of Baguinéda in southwestern Mali.

 

 

 

 

Attendees from Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Mali gather for a group photo.

 

 

 

Gender expert Marie Cecile Sidibé explains how to use participative mapping to understand gendered control and access to resources.

 

 

The presence of the IPM CRSP Communications Director Miriam Rich ensured documentation of the workshop and future dissemination through various media, and was essential to on-site preparation of materials and general logistical support throughout.

 

 

 

Mah Koné Diallo, gender expert at the Office de la Haute Vallée du Niger (OHVN), leads a discussion in a village.
Secretaries N’Diorffou Cissé and Bintou Diakité assist with conference documents.

 

 

 

Secretaries N’Diorffou Cissé and Bintou Diakité assist with conference documents.