Gender Issues and BushmeatN. Van Vliet, R. Nasi

IUFRO-FORNESSA Conference, Nairobi, June 2012

Whataretherolesandcontributionsofmenandwomenintheuseandtradeofbushmeat,alongthebushmeattradechain?

Fromhuntingtoconsumption,passingthroughtradeandfoodpreparation,dotheydiffer?

Bushmeat

BasinDenseForest(km2)

Population (x1000) Consumption(tonne/meat/yr)

Extracted(t/yr)Rural Urban Rural Urban

Amazon3,938,000 14,425 24,352 909,000 small 1,299,000

Congo1,612,000 57,046 41,199 2,909,000 289,000 4,569,000

Nasi,VanVliet,Taber2011

IfbushmeatconsumptionintheCongoBasinwastobereplacedbylocallyproducedbeef,anareaaslargeas25millionhectaresmighthavetobeconvertedtopastures.

The Bushmeat Market Chain

Hunters Transporters

RetailersFinalconsumersinruralareas

Finalconsumersinurbanareas

LA

Prey

Wholesalers

Hunting

Isgenerallyconsidereda”man”onlyactivity

Womenaresometimesdirectlyinvolvedinhunting…..

• Romanoff(1983)describesMatseswomeninthePeruvianAmazonwhoaccompanytheirhusbands,helpingtochaseandkillanimals

• Hurtadoetal.(1985)indicatethatAchewomeninParaguayhelpmensearchforandtransportcapturedanimals,occasionallykillinganimalsthemselves.

• BieseleandBarcaly(2001)describeexcellentJu/'hoanwomentrackersoflargegamewhoaccompanytheirhusbandsandcontributesubstantiallytotheirhuntingsuccess.)

Hunting

© Kumpel N.

Womenoftenpushorencouragehunting

"Womenarethearmsofthedibouka”[throwofthenets](McCreedy,1994:15)

TheAkaconductedabobandaritualwhennet‐huntingwasnotsuccessful.Menorganizedtheritualandpleadedwithwomento

participatebecausewomen'senthusiasmandenergywereviewedascrucialtothesuccessoftheritualandfuturenet‐

hunting.

Hunting

Womenoftenpushforhunting

“IfacertainmangoeshuntingbutIdon’tgo,mywifemightevenstartlovingthatman.”(Man,age32)

Tanzania, FZS: Asanterabi Lowassa(asante.kweka@gmail.com)

Hunting

Hunters Transporters

RetailersFinalconsumersinruralareas

Finalconsumersinurbanareas

LAFILIÈREVIANDEDEBROUSSE

Prey

The Bushmeat Market Chain

Wholesalers

TransportingMenaremostlyinvolvedintransportfromthesourcetourbanareas

butwomenareofteninvolvedintransportwhenbuyingintheforesttosellonthemarkets

Hunters Transporters

RetailersFinalconsumersinruralareas

Finalconsumersinurbanareas

LAFILIÈREVIANDEDEBROUSSE

Prey

The Bushmeat Market Chain

Wholesalers

Wholesalers and retailersWomenareinvolvedinthetradefromretailers,wholesalers,restaurants,

preparedbushmeatmealssoldinmarketsorinthestreet

Income

Purchasing:theincomegeneratedbywomenisinvestedinfood

“In Kisangani, protein and bushmeat consumption by children was notcorrelated with the father´s profession (Correspondence FactorAnalysis, Wilks Lambda test, protein: p=0,96; bushmeat: p=0,7) norwith the mother’s profession (protein: p=0,1; bushmeat: p=0,3) (Table5). However, children whose mother had an income generating activity,ate more proteins and significantly more bushmeat than the others(protein: p=0,14; bushmeat: p=0,05).”

van Vliet et al., submitted

In urban areas:

Income

Purchasing:theincomegeneratedbywomenisinvestedinfood

”Over half of the money spent by men in the village shop was on alcoholand cigarettes, and the amount and proportion of income spent on theseitems increased substantially with increases in individual hunting offtake.By contrast, the majority of purchases made by women were of food, buttheir food purchases decreased actually and proportionally with increasedhousehold hunting offtake”.

In rural areas:

HuntersTransporters

RetailersFinalconsumersinruralareasFinalconsumersinurbanareas

LAFILIÈREVIANDEDEBROUSSE

Prey

The Bushmeat Market Chain

Wholesalers

Bushmeatpreferencesbygender

women preferences

cane rat

5%

porcupine

61%

blue duiker

3%

red duikers

5%

pangolin

6%

monkey

10%

Consumption

SouthwestCameroun,vanVlietandNasi,unpublished)(N=345)

men preferences

cane rat

11%

porcupine

46%blue duiker

2%

red duikers

9%

pangolin

11%

monkey

6%

Bats,nilemonitor,foxandgorillawereonlymentionedbymen;elephantswereclearlypreferredbywomen(78%ofthevoteswerefromwomen)

Bushmeatconsumptionpatternsbygender

Consumption

Uganda: Oluput et al., 2009

Bushmeatconsumptionpatternsbygender

Consumption

”Men were significantly more likely to report havingeaten wildmeat in the last 12 months (p<0,01).However, gender played no significant role inconsumption wild animal derived medicinalproducts. Both men and women consider wildmeatas a male food, typically associated with maleactivities. Most female consumers interviewed hadbeen invited to eat wildmeat by male colleagues,friends or family members and were generally lessenthousiastic and less knowledgeble aboutwildmeat than male consumers”

Vietnam: Drury, 2011

Bushmeatconsumptionpatternsbygender

Consumption

”Results indicated that age and sex of the respondent did notaffect consumption, but ethnic group was statisticallysignificant for the three study species.”

Consumptiontaboosformenandwomen

Consumption

Womenthateatbayduikercouldhaveperiodsforever(Kota,Gabon)

Consumptiontaboosformenandwomen

Consumption

WomenthateatNeotraguswhilepregnantwillhaveepilepticchildren(Kota,Gabon)

Consumptiontaboosformenandwomen

Consumption

Youngmenandwomenthateatyellowbackduikerwillnevermarry,onlyelderpeopleconsumeit

(Kota,Gabon)

Conclusions• Theoveralltradechainisgenderbalanced• Differencesinthecontributionofbushmeattoincome:InUrbanareas,bushmeatcontributestoincomeforwomen,whereasinruralareasitcontributestotheincomeofmen.

• Womeninvestmoreonfood,whereasmentendtospendmoremoneyonnonnecessities

• Therearegenderdifferencesinbushmeatconsumptionpatterns

• Knowledgeontheserelativegenderrolesiskeytothedevelopmentofalternativestoensurethatmeasurestargettherightaudienc

Thank you