• Login
    View Item 
    •   OpenDocs Home
    • Institute of Development Studies Research Repository
    • IDS Research
    • View Item
    •   OpenDocs Home
    • Institute of Development Studies Research Repository
    • IDS Research
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    “God made the soil, but we made it fertile”: Gender, knowledge and practice in the formation and use of African Dark Earths in Liberia and Sierra Leone

    Thumbnail
    Download
    God made the soil but we made it fertile.pdf (4.250Mb)
    Date
    2014
    Author
    Frausin, Victoria
    Fraser, James
    Narmah, Woulay
    Lahai, Morrison
    Winnebah, Thomas
    Fairhead, James
    Leach, Melissa
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Impact
    Abstract
    This paper fills a significant knowledge gap by describing the West African farming practices and knowledge that lead to the formation of carbon-rich high-fertility African Dark Earths (AfDE) – human-made soils analogous to Amazonian terra preta - yet subject to continuing production and use. Gender relations and women’s roles are central to how these soils are produced and used. We develop a gendered political ecology perspective through social and ecological field studies in Liberia and Sierra Leone. We detail how AfDE formation and associated knowledge is gender-differentiated; the central roles of women’s deposition of charred organic materials from cooking, oil palm processing and potash production in producing AfDE, and the gendered dynamics of AfDE use and distribution in the landscape. Different species are cultivated in AfDE compared to non-anthropogenic soils, and AfDE are differentially valued by women and men for horticultural and tree crops. The spatial distribution of AfDE across the landscape reflects shifting household, marriage and settlement practices. Gender relations, subjectivities and interdependencies, and the ecology of soils and landscapes, mutually shape one another. National policy makers and NGOs (such as Care and Rainforest Alliance) planning or managing agricultural carbon projects in West Africa should attend to the knowledge and practices of Loma and Mende women and men who have made and cultivated carbon-rich anthropogenic soils in the region for generations.
    URI
    https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/4471
    Citation
    Frausin, Victoria et al. “’God made the soil, but we made it fertile’: Gender, Knowledge and practice in the formation and use of African Dark Earths in Liberia and Sierra Leone”. Human Ecology October 2014, Volume 42, Issue 5, pp 695–710
    More details
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9686-0
    Rights holder
    Springer
    Rights details
    http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/IDSOpenDocsStandardTermsOfUse.pdf
    Sponsor
    ESRC
    Collections
    • IDS Research [1592]

    About OpenDocs | OpenDocs Policy | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer and Cookies
     

     

    Browse

    All of OpenDocsCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    About OpenDocs | OpenDocs Policy | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer and Cookies