GROWING COTTON: HOUSEHOLD NEGOTIATIONS IN EXPORT-ORIENTED AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA, BURKINA FASO BY BATAMAKA SOMÉ DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Mahir Saul, Chair Professor Matti Bunzl Professor Thomas J. Bassett Associate Professor Arlene Torrès ABSTRACT Conventional knowledge assumes that production of cash/export crops jeopardizes household food crop production in developing economies, and above all, mars women’s potential for economic autonomy. In Southwest Burkina Faso, observations in cotton-producing households appear to challenge such assumptions. Cotton is the driver of food crop production; and members of cotton farming households operate within a framework of negotiations and bargaining to attain production objectives. Still more, some developments in the cotton sector opened unexpected avenues for some women, in Southwest Burkina, to produce cotton independently from the conventional cotton farms owned by the male head of household. This dissertation asks why some smallholder farmers in Southwest Burkina choose to grow cotton in addition to commonly grown food-crops, and how this impacts relations between spouses, and parents and children within the household. It reaches the conclusion that a host of complex factors influence smallholder farmers’ decision to produce cotton, which requires looking beyond the need for greater cash incomes. The research methodology combines participant observations, informal interviews, conversations, focus groups, life histories, and social interactions, with formal surveying methods. This study contributes to ongoing theoretical debates on intrahousehold relations, and women’s access to resources in a growing cash crop economy in Africa, and the Global South. It also revisits the discussions phrased in terms of agency and rationality in actions among farming households. More broadly, it can contribute to reconcile cash and food cropping, and suggest tools for the economic empowerment of rural women through their full integration in cash farming. ii To Esther, Saanbé, and Baryen iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been made possible without the constant support of many people and institutions. First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my advisor and dissertation committee Chair, Professor Mahir Saul for his total commitment and unbounded accessibility from day one of my admission to the program through my graduate experience at Illinois. Professor Saul, who is aware of the fact that the mind cannot operate efficiently without peace of the heart, has balanced my academic life with more social opportunities. In this vein, he missed no opportunity that allows our respective families to gather for purely social and relaxing events. His openness and mastery of the cultural dynamics of many African societies, and more particularly of rural life in Burkina Faso, added to his outstanding and up-to-date knowledge and grasp of West African ethnography made him an inexhaustible source that kept quenching my thirst for knowledge, inspiring me, while guiding my steps towards academic achievement. More importantly, Professor Saul’s efficient mentoring, his perusals of my chapter drafts, and the constructive feedback and input he constantly gave me did not only improve the final product, they clarified my take on many issues, and positively influenced my degree of confidence. In addition, I was very fortunate to have full support of the other members of my dissertation committee in the persons of Matti Bunzl, Arlene Torrès, and Thomas Bassett. Professor Bunzl who has boosted my confidence in his History and Historiography of Anthropology seminar during my first year has remained a constant source of support. Despite the loads of his multiple academic and administrative tasks, he has always found time to provide me with clarifications on scholarly issues and beyond. Professor Bunzl’s prompt and close reading of each of my draft chapters during the writing process, combined with the feedback and suggestions, enhanced my analysis besides giving me trust that I would make it. I am deeply iv indebted to him and can only say “thanks”. I also benefited from Professor Torrès’ scholarly contributions and great mentoring skills during my journey at the University of Illinois. Her approach to mentoring, which is so empowering, cleared my way before and during the writing stage of this dissertation. I would also like to thank Professor Thomas Bassett for introducing me to political ecology and working with me over these past six years. In addition to benefiting immensely from Professor Bassett’s scholarly advice, my collaboration with him also benefited me on a personal level. I am also grateful to the faculty of the anthropology department whose seminars and scholarly talks have enlightened and guided me tremendously. I owe a special mention to Professor Alma Gottlieb whose Fieldwork in Cultural Anthropology seminar gave me the key to the exciting nature of anthropological inquiry. Her constant interest about my academic progress was another source of moral uplifting. I am also indebted to Dr Maimouna Barro for her friendship and constant intellectual and moral support. I sincerely thank my colleagues of our graduate students’ dissertation writing club, Steve Maas, Angela Glaros, and Jin-heon Jung for regularly reading and giving feedback on my draft chapters. My stay at the University of Illinois would not have been enjoyable, let alone productive, had I not benefitted from the friendship of an incredible cohort, the comprehension and support of the department administrative staff, and the attention of a compassionate administration. My cohort colleagues – Aide d’Acosta, Julie Williams, Ethel Hazard, Isabel Scarborough, Chris Tan, John Cho, Alison Goebel, Karin Berkhoudt, Sarah Rowe-Maas, and Yan Caie – have been distinctive for their collegiality and spirit of solidarity. Dr Acosta and Ethel Hazard have been particularly helpful during my first-semester adjustment in many ways, and I owe them very special thanks. I am also thankful Yao Bertin Kouadio and Corentin Somé v for their inputs, and GIS and technical contribution. I owe a lot to Leo Zulu, Moussa Koné, Victor Nyekel, Hapsatou Wane, Richard Beyogle, Mike Tengueri, and Estelle Koné for their inputs and friendship. Doctors William Hope, Isidore Lobnibe, Abdulai Idrissu, Awa Sarr, Nicole Tami, Pascasie Adedze, Margaret Njeru, Bernardo Urbani, and Stanley Thangaraj have also played a tremendous role in my adjustment process and provided me with input that enhanced my work. Our department office staff, Liz Spears, Karla Harmon, Julia Spitz, and Donna Fogerson have worked constantly behind the curtains to make it possible for me. I feel very blessed to have had such caring and patient collaborators. Their effort concerted with the considerate administrative approach of Professors Steve Leigh and Alejandro Lugo made the department facilities a safe haven for me to complete my project. I also thank Issa Sanon, Sansuon Hien, Maaldedon Hien, and Marta Somé, and the many other farmers and cotton agents of Southwest Burkina Faso who provided me with assistance in accessing information. My gratitude also goes to Adolph Somda and Thomas Somé who have expressed their constant support to me from the onset of this project. To my brother, Dr Hervé Somé, who has been my childhood hero, and who has been so close to me during vicissitudes of life, I can only say that I am proud to have such an inspirational and emulating brother. Dr David Ellis, his wife Carol and their children have shown me a friendship and a trust that made me feel at home in their home. I owe them hugely. I am also lucky I met Andre Mbassa and his family. They have showed me a sustained and genuine friendship I can rely on. My indebtedness also goes to Mrs Pauline Mbuvi and her family, and Mrs Elizabeth Kakoma and her late husband Dr Ibulahimu Kakoma. Dr Kakoma’s life and courage before his untimely passing taught me a lesson about how to balance scholarship and humanism. vi Professor Eyamba Bokamba has displayed unconditional confidence and support to my project since the beginning. He has constituted a special source of advice for me and my family, in all aspects of life. Papa Bokamba’s personal commitment to my cause, has partly allowed me to secure on-campus funding, a commodity that is becoming rarer and rarer, on a regular basis. To my wife Esther, who combined graduate school with caring alone for our lovely children while I was away doing research or drafting chapters, I have no words to express my gratitude. Let me simply say that I am blessed for marrying a brave and lovely wife like you. My sincere thanks also goes to Saanbé who cried so much the day of my departure for fieldwork and laughed so much and hugged me so tightly a year later when I returned from the field, and to Baryen who just stared at me the day of my departure but would cry and run to her Mom a year after I returned, because she did not know me. You taught me the joys of fatherhood. Last but not least, I am deeply indebted to the Wenner-Gren Foundation for their generous IDF and Wadsworth Grant that supported my coursework and my dissertation write-up. I also thank the Center for African Studies for the continued financial support during my stay at the University of Illinois. The department of Anthropology and the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program (WGGP) have granted me with numerous funding, including the National Science Foundation summer ethnographic research grant, and a Graduate College Block grant that help write-up this project. The National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant and the West African Research Center provided me with generous funds that released me from undue financial stress while I was carrying out field research.