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ABSTRACT
Conventional wisdom and some theoretical approaches to understanding gendered policy priorities link women’s prioritization of health with reproductive or compassionate care responsibilities in the family. Drawing on data from close engagement with women in their daily lives in rural Mali and Burkina Faso, this paper asks why women identify their health as a primary worry or concern. Women research participants’ experiences drew attention to the sphere of livelihood activities. Data from ethnographic observation and 104 interviews with women and 56 interviews with men generated data that informs our understanding of the lived experiences that produce policy priorities. Health was the most common concern identified by women research participants. The paper argues that women’s identification of the relationship between their health and their ability to pursue livelihood activities was the primary reason health was cited as an important worry or concern. These findings show how women’s concerns about health are at the forefront of their strategies to pursue livelihood security. Research participants’ experiences provide an alternate way to think about health as a gendered policy priority and highlight the need to examine the diversity of women’s economic engagement in challenging and changing economic circumstances around the world.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 I use first name pseudonyms for all research participants. Respondent 137. 2017. Interviewed by Author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
2 Chattopadhyay and Duflo (Citation2004) and Olken (Citation2010) are important exceptions.
3 I use descriptive pseudonyms to identify the research sites examined in this project. Sumayadugu, in Mali, means cool or humid village in Bamanankan/Jula while Faramadugu, in Burkina Faso, means rocky village.
4 I conceptualize livelihoods following Scoones (Citation2009, 172) as the ways “people combine different activities in a complex bricolage or portfolio of activities.” Women who participated in this research pursued numerous seasonal livelihood activities and referred to their work in diverse ways.
5 When Afrobarometer survey enumerators ask about policy priorities they also use an open-ended question, invoking the national level: ‘In your opinion, what are the most important problems facing this country that government should address?’
6 Some research participants cited several worries and concerns; for this analysis, I included the first worry cited.
7 The high school in Faramadugu, Burkina Faso was relatively new, graduating its first class of students in 2017, the year I conducted research.
8 Men’s responses to this question are detailed in Appendix 1.
9 This shared experience was documented despite different levels of livelihood security for women in the two countries. Women in Sumayadugu, Mali had access to more livelihood opportunities across the calendar year, while women in Faramadugu, Burkina Faso had access to fewer opportunities throughout the year; this was particularly challenging when the farming year was bad because farming was their primary livelihood activity (Johnson Citation2021).
10 Respondent 157. 2017. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
11 Respondent 86. 2017. Interviewed by author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
12 Respondent 61. 2017. Interviewed by Author. Sumayadugu, Mali; Respondent 82. 2017. Interviewed by Author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
13 Respondent 24. 2016. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso and Respondent 43. 2016. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
14 Respondent 43. 2016. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
15 UNICEF ranks Mali’s maternal mortality rates as very high, at 562 deaths per 100,000 live births. Burkina Faso’s maternal mortality is ranked as high, with 320 deaths per 100,000 live births. In mid-2016, just prior to the beginning of field research for this project, the government of Burkina Faso began a program to provide free prenatal consultations, delivery, and a limited period of postnatal care for mothers as well as free healthcare for children under five (Unicef Data: Citation2021).
16 Respondent 121. 2017. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
17 In Sumayadugu and Faramadugu, 75 and 78 percent, respectively, of interviewed women were members of savings and credit associations, which had existed in both villages for a long time, but drew more women into active participation after NGO-assisted efforts to formalize the organizational structures of the associations.
18 Respondent 73. 2017. Interviewed by author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
19 Respondent 69. 2017. Interviewed by author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
20 Respondent 130. 2017. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
21 Respondent 70. 2017. Interviewed by author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
22 Respondent 74. 2017. Interviewed by author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
23 Respondent 140. 2017. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.
24 Respondent 99. 2017. Interviewed by author. Sumayadugu, Mali.
25 Respondent 128. 2017. Interviewed by author. Faramadugu, Burkina Faso.