“Boys Climb the Trees, Girls Sell the Fruits”: Rethinking NTFP Governance Through a Gender and Child Rights Lens in Burkina Faso
- IUCN CEESP NRGF Policy Paper No. 05/2025/v.2.0 , Policy Paper (05) : 1-9
Résumé
Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are vital to livelihoods in Burkina Faso, particularly for women and children. Women represent 97% of NTFP sellers and dominate collection and processing, yet they face exclusion from substantive land rights, decision-making, and market access. Children (boys and girls), are emerging as independent actors in NTFP markets, often working in unsafe conditions with limited legal protection. Governance frameworks currently overlook these gender and age-specific vulnerabilities and enable unsustainable harvesting practices. This policy paper, based on field studies in Burkina Faso and the IUCN CEESP Natural Resource Governance Framework (the NRGF), calls for gender-responsive and child-sensitive reforms. With inclusive rights-based governance, NTFPs can become engines of equity, resilience, and sustainability in the forest sector.
Mots-clés
Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), markets, children