The report proposes the development of innovative public policies based on the reinforcement of the social capital of women and policy approaches that promote better integration of the initiatives undertaken by governments, international and non-governmental organisations to empower women and strengthen their resilience.
Women make a significant contribution to West Africa's food economy, perpetuating a long tradition of commerce and participating in cross-border trade and regional outreach. Their activities face numerous obstacles but also present important opportunities, highlighted in this report through an unprecedented relational and spatial analysis of social networks. The study focuses on the rice sector in the Dendi region (Benin, Niger and Nigeria) and on the regional governance networks that support women's entrepreneurship. It confirms that Nigeria occupies a privileged position due to its demographics and growing urbanisation. The report proposes the development of innovative public policies based on the reinforcement of the social capital of women and policy approaches that promote better integration of the initiatives undertaken by governments, international and non-governmental organisations to empower women and strengthen their resilience.
The objective of this paper is to show how a formal approach to networks can make a significant contribution to the study of cross-border trade in West Africa. Building on the formal tools and theories developed by Social Network Analysis, we examine the network organization of 136 large traders in two border regions between Niger, Nigeria, and Benin. In a business environment where transaction costs are extremely high, we find that decentralized networks are well adapted to the various uncertainties induced by long-distance trade. We also find that long-distance trade relies both on the trust and cooperation shared among local traders, and on the distant ties developed with foreign partners from a different origin, religion or culture. Studying the spatial structure of trade networks, we find that in those markets where trade is recent and where most of the traders are not native of the region, national borders are likely to exert a greater influence than in those regions where trade has pre-colonial roots. Combining formal network analysis and ethnographic studies, we argue, can make a significant contribution to the current revival of interest in cross-border trade in the policy field.
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries Luso- Africans, the descendants of Portuguese traders and African women, exercised important roles in commerce along the riverine networks of the West African coast. They were influential in the development and dissemination of the Crioulo language, the diffusion of numerous fruits, food crops and domestic animals, and influenced many African social and religious practices. When Sephardic Jews, French, Dutch, and English traders arrived in western Africa, they and their Eurafrican offspring were constrained by African societies to accommodate to the same circumstances as Portuguese and Luso-Africans. During the latter part of the eighteenth century, Eurafricans' circumstances significantly changed in places where French and British colonial officials introduced European legal codes that enabled Eurafricans to acquire freehold property, bequeath dwellings, trading vessels, and other possessions to descendants, and exercise civic responsibilities. North America: Ohio U Press
This book examines women’s participation in social, economic and political development in West Africa. The book looks at women from the premise of being active agents in the development processes within their communities, thereby subverting the dominate narrative of women as passive recipients of development.
This paper maps the distribution of activities and the movement of goods between producers, traders and wholesalers in Niger, Nigeria and Benin, three countries where women traders are important actors in markets and play a significant role in forging ties beyond borders. Using an innovative approach known as social network analysis, the paper identifies gender roles and sheds light on the nature of relationships between men and women. Gender along with age, race, and ethnicity Ő is indeed a powerful factor structuring social relationships on the continent, where male and women labor contribution to food systems are often gender-specific. The paper first verifies to what extent women and men tend to sell different types, volumes and qualities of products along food value chains. It then explain how gender inequalities are reproduced through social norms that limit women's choices and opportunities. Women's participation to markets, the paper shows, is significantly shaped by a gendered system of relationships, at the household and community level, that provide them access to information and agricultural resources.
West African Worlds provides a critical assessment of social, economic and political change in Africa’s most populous and arguably most externally focused region. With an emphasis on globalisation and modernisation, case studies and commentary are integrated throughout to highlight the concerns and issues of the region. Enriched by an impressive mix of West African voices, this text combines theory and application with policy and practice to address socio-economic change, the pursuit of livelihoods, and development within West Africa.
Study of rural areas and urban areas markets, commerce, marketing and distribution networks within two major areas of West Africa, particularly Nigeria - covers the development of trade and markets in yorubaland and iboland, and includes sociological aspects, the economic functions of periodic and daily markets, the patterns of trade and retail marketing, etc. Diagrams, maps, references and statistical tables.