Bauchspies, W K and Diarra, F and Rattunde, F and Weltzien, E and Glenna, L (2017) “An Be Jigi”: Collective cooking, whole grains, and technology transfer in Mali. FACETS, 2 (2). pp. 955-968. ISSN 2371-1671
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Abstract
This paper addresses how available resources, food security, technology, and culture are shaping the choices rural Malian women are making to ensure the health, energy, and well-being of their families. This research contributed to evaluating an eight-year research project (An Be Jigi) targeting improved nutrition. The study, performed over four months, used semi-structured interviews of 120 women in six villages in Mali to assess the identified issues with qualitative and quantitative approaches. This paper describes the history of the An Be Jigi project, whole-grain processing techniques, and group cooking for knowledge sharing with rural women for improved nutrition. Interviews revealed substantial adoption of whole-grain processing techniques and women’s appreciation of the nutritional benefits of those techniques. The women engaged in group cooking (cuisines collectives) appreciated the activities and mentioned multiple benefits from using them. Women identified access to mills, and to some extent the social stigma of laziness and poverty associated with whole-grain food, as limiting factors of adoption. This study of women’s practices and perceptions regarding use of whole grain tells a story of changing consumption habits being shaped by culture, technology, knowledge, and available resources. Malian women are agents of change and care in their adoption of new techniques and recipes for the improved nutrition of young children and households.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Research Program : West & Central Africa |
| CRP: | CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | whole grains, decortication, collective cooking, An Be Jigi, technology adoption, technology transfer, sorghum, millet, agriculture, Mali |
| Subjects: | Others > Africa Others > Gender Research Others > Mali |
| Depositing User: | Mr Ramesh K |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2018 04:50 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Aug 2018 04:50 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/10851 |
| Official URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0033 |
| Projects: | An Be Jigi Project |
| Funders: | McKnight Foundation, Helen Keller International, ICRISAT, and IER |
| Acknowledgement: | The authors would like to thank the McKnight Foundation, Helen Keller International, ICRISAT, and IER for their support of the An Be Jigi project in Mali from 2006 to 2014, and the CGIAR Dryland Cereals CRP from June to September 2014 during data collection. The contributions of the nutritionists Lina Mahy, Marjolein Smit, and Vera Lugutuah for nutrition input and developing the process for whole-grain flour production, and Vera Lugutuah for developing and testing new recipes and group work with village women is highly appreciated. In addition we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions, patience, time, and expertise. |
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