The "how" and "why" of including gender and age in ethnobotanical research and community-based resource management.
This paper examines the process and outcome of participatory methods for stakeholder identification. We used focus group style participatory methodology to engage local residents in identifying key sub-groups relevant to conservation in Boumba, Niger. We then conducted a quantitative pictorial recognition study to measure the diversity of local useful plant knowledge across groups. The community identified six gender and age-class groupings relevant to the study. The effect of a participant's gender, socially-defined age class or the interaction of the two factors on the number of plants recognized varied by plant use. Medicinal plant knowledge was highest among elders. Food plant knowledge of food plants increased with age for women only. Where as the interaction of age and gender was strongest on fodder plant knowledge, where mid-aged men scored highest. We reflect on the impact that heterogeneity of local botanical knowledge has on our understanding of local natural resource use and the strengths of using a participatory approach to identifying the stakeholder groups which underlie this heterogeneity.
Department of Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR, 97207, USA, jocelyn.g.mueller@gmail.com.
Jocelyn G
JG
Müller
Riyana
R
Boubacar
Iro Dan
ID
Guimbo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019448:Ethnobotany / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009548:Niger; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000145:classification*; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult