Gender and desertification : case study : Matrouh Governorate

Abstract EN

the main objective of this study is to identify the gender roles of the occurrence of desertification and to investigate gender role regarding this problem.

The study objectives can be specified as follows: a.) to identify Bedouin men's and women’s role inside and outside their houses, b.) to investigate the activities of the Bedouin women, which cause desertification and c.) to report their methods to combat desertification.

Qualitative data were collected to achieve the study objectives while taking gender perspectives related to roles, social status, access and control of resources into consideration.

A sum of forty-seven persons (six male and forty-one female) were interviewed around Matrouh area during August 2000.

Semi-structured checklists were utilized and conducted as a tool for data collection, using focus group discussions.

The study findings stated that: women work almost all day long inside their houses with no visible income.

They even share other activities with men outside the houses such as cultivation, harvesting and grazing, aside from their regular daily work of fetching water and collecting shrubs, which considered the main cause of desertification.