I have recently finished reporting on work in Burkina Faso on the contribution of tree products derived from baobab, shea and néré to rural livelihoods in Burkina Faso. We wanted to identify and understand the social and environmental factors influencing the utilization of tree products by rural households for home consumption and commercialization, and to explore the contribution of tree products to food security.
We focused on the roles and responsibilities of women for tree product utilization, which we found to differ between tree species, and with household composition. This we think was due to contrasting ecological contexts and evolving social mores. We found no evidence of conflict within households about tree product management and utilization - decision making processes were negotiated and consensual in both regions, even though gender rights and roles were clearly demarcated.
Nevertheless, we concluded that domestication and dissemination of tree planting and regeneration technologies, and tree product processing and marketing initiatives, definitely need a gendered and tree-specific approach in order to build on local norms and capacities - particularly of women.
An extensive report is available at:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4878e.pdf
And an article is forthcoming in the journal Environmental Conservation:
Nigel Poole