Gendered Food Mapping on Boiled Yam in Nigeria

Farming is the major livelihood activity for all the communities studied (male and female), and in the context, both male and female farmers indicated that yam was the most important crop they produced – as it was important for food, resilience in items of hunger, income and cultural activities. Otherwise, farmers were engaged in the production of other food crops like cassava, cocoyam, potato, rice, tomato, pepper, vegetables and cucumber. In addition to food crops, in Obinagu Ishiagu women mentioned a number of other activities undertaken alongside agriculture, including pottery, blacksmithing, mining of stones and lead.
The eight communities studied grew yam and prepared boiled yam both for market and home consumption to meet up with other household requirements. Yam products were often consumed daily in the study region. It was estimated by key informants in the region that of the yam kept for household consumption, almost would be consumed as boiled, with a smaller portion as pounded yam, and the rest are stored;
The results show that the respondents were predominantly Indigenes, but communities also had a number of migrant settlers – and no different preferences among these groups were identified. Farmers in each of these communities group themselves into three categories - poor, moderately wealthy and very wealthy farmers – with farmers in each category producing and consuming boiled yam; however, the scale of which increased with wealth status. Interestingly one community, Onueke-Ezza, had the lowest proportion of farmers who were considered poor, estimated at (3%), which corresponded with a rate of boiled yam consumption for the community at 45%. This example shows how an abundance of yam – produced or consumed – is a signifier of wealth in many communities in the region.
Despite perceptions of yam being a ‘man’s crop’ in the region, this study found evidence to the contrary. There were some areas where women produced yam, particularly water yam, and also undertook important roles in different aspects of production. For example, men in Onueke community, in Ezzah South, were responsible for land clearing, while women were responsible for weeding and gathering yam, and children for gathering yam seeds. Burning trash, land preparation, preparation of sets, planting, staking of yam, earthening up are other roles that men were responsible for. In contrast, women in Amagu Community commonly weed, gather yams and pack yams into barns, while men prepare land, plant, stake, earthen up, and harvest. Women will also plant different crops, usually early maturing, around the base of a yam mound that is commonly planted by men. Both men and women sell yam, depending on the product (fresh, boiled, roasted, pounded) and the community. Each community was unique in terms of which gender sold what products. However, decision making regarding the production of the crop and selling, tended to be more male dominated, where women, on average, were consulted but not the decision makers of yam.
Regarding varietal preferences, the respondents mainly used local varieties. FGDs found that farmers lacked awareness of new varieties or felt that new varieties didn’t before as well as local varieties. Among both men and women in Onueke, Ezzah community, they ranked Igum as first, same is applicable in Umuebe Community Ezzamgbo and Umuebe Izzamgbo, Ohaukwu where both gender groups ranked Utsekpe as the best, this result agreed with the individual interview that indicated Utsekpe variety as very prominent in Umuebe community. In Obinagu Ishiagu community, both women and men ranked Ji Igwe as the best variety.
High quality yam crop characteristics for men and women were green leaves, full canopy, large tuber and large plumule. When respondents were asked about a high quality yam crop to make boiled yam, women mentioned ‘sweet taste’ in addition to the list, while men mentioned ‘bulking cracks’. Sweet, moderately soft, and bright colour (white or yellow), heavy in the mouth but not too strong and not sticky in the hand, were the most frequently cited characteristics for boiled yam. Most respondents indicated that the household will complain if the boiled yam has dull colour or colour beyond white, if the yam is
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too hard and difficult to chew, if the yam is extra soft and if the yam is bitter and has odour. Some variations in processing steps were found, such as that some boiled yam before removing the peel.