RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Land Restoration Amid Male Outmigration
JF Ecological Restoration
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 220
OP 235
DO 10.3368/er.41.4.220
VO 41
IS 4
A1 Langill, Jennifer C.
A1 Crossland, Mary
A1 Elias, Marlène
A1 Vinceti, Barbara
A1 Valencia, Ana Maria Paez
A1 Traoré, Alain
A1 Traoré, Daouda
YR 2023
UL http://er.uwpress.org/content/41/4/220.abstract
AB Within the global literature on ecological restoration, a subset of literature examines the relationship between smallholder land restoration and rural outmigration. However, intrahousehold dynamics surrounding the outmigration of one or more household members and the capacity of the household to undertake land restoration activities are often overlooked. With analyses rooted in Burkina Faso and Kenya, we explore the relationships between restoration, household labor, and rural outmigration, which is a prominent livelihood strategy in the two contexts. Our case studies draw on data from interviews, focus group discussions, and small-n household surveys in Burkina Faso and Kenya. Our analysis substantiates the need to consider migration in understanding and promoting smallholder land restoration. Our multi-sited approach further reveals that the contextually-specific characteristics of the migration event (i.e., type of migration [permanent or temporary], position of the migrant within the household, timing and duration of migration) play an important role in shaping restoration and gender outcomes. As male heads of households or their sons outmigrate periodically in Kenya compared to young men leaving seasonally in Burkina Faso, the impacts of migration on intrahousehold gender relations are more transformative in the Kenyan case study, with women garnering greater decision-making power on the family farm and in land restoration activities, whereas entrenched gender norms in the Burkina Faso case remain unchallenged by migration.