Écoféminisme: the importance of including a feminist perspective in achieving sustainable agriculture in Francophone Africa

Abstract

Environmentally sustainable practices benefit the environment as well as the people in the affected communities. Women have a unique experience in their relationship with environmental sustainability efforts and climate justice. The concept of ecofeminism highlights the dualism and connection between the oppression women face and the oppression of the planet. As many of the countries in Francophone Africa are at similar stages of economic development, due to their shared history of colonization by the French, they are comparable countries in terms of sustainability practices. This analysis uses case studies from Mali, Cameroon, and Senegal to look at how women are directly involved in and impacted by sustainability efforts in Francophone countries in Africa. The second part of this research is an empirical study of data from the World Bank and other sources, specifically looking at social indicators of gender equality in Francophone African countries as well as government attitudes towards investing in sustainable practices to investigate the relationship between these two variables. As women are uniquely impacted by environmental degradation and thus would be more positively affected by sustainable practices, there may be a relationship between gender equality and the attention sustainability. Keywords: International Relations, French, ecofeminism, sustainability, economic development, Francophone Africa, agriculture, women