Table 7.
Divisions of labour by gender during farming and non-farming seasons.
| Month of observation | Activities of men | Activities of women in addition to household chores * |
|---|---|---|
| January, February | Threshing, bagging and marketing of groundnuts; Collecting firewood from the bush; construction houses latrines & fences; Leisure: playing cards, Koranic recitation, drinking green tea | Shelling ground nuts; cutting firewood in the bush; Leisure‑plaiting hair, drinking green tea |
| March, April | Cutting sticks in mangrove swamps and bush; making mud bricks; Construction-houses, roofing; honey collection in the bush; Leisure-playing cards, football (every evening), drinking green tea | Gleaming ground nut fields; shelling ground nuts; Leisure-plaiting hair, drinking green tea |
| May, June | Clearing land, raking grasses; Making mud bricks; Construction-house, roofing; cutting sticks in the bush; shelling groundnuts for sowing; sowing ground nuts begins; Leisure-playing cards, football (every evening), drinking green tea | Firewood collection in the bush; shelling ground nuts; collection of “bush mango” for cooking; Leisure-drinking green tea |
| July, August | All day sowing and ploughing ground nuts and millet pre-breakfast start; Hoeing ground nuts and millet; Leisure-playing cards, football (once weekly), drinking green tea | Weeding to prepare vegetable gardens in farms or compounds; Hoeing in the ground nut and millet fields; Leisure-drinking green tea |
| September, October | Some ploughing (a.m. activity only); Harvesting millet and transporting by cart into compound; cutting sticks in the bush; fencing using millet sticks; Weeding field in preparation for watermelon planting; Leisure-drinking green tea | Hoeing in the groundnut and millet fields; collecting leaves from the bush/farm; Harvesting mille‑standing and cutting‑usually a.m. only; with the arrival of fresh millet, pounding appeared to increase; Leisure-drinking green tea |
| November, December | Harvesting groundnuts using a plough (usually a.m. only); Lifting, windrowing and stacking harvested groundnut plants; Leisure-drinking green tea | Windrowing and stacking harvested groundnut plants (a.m. and p.m.); Leisure‑drinking green tea |
* All year round activities of women also included cooking; preparation of whole grain millet; fetching water from the well; sweeping the compound and home; child care; laundry and ironing.