When seeds change hands: gender, intersectionality, and access to seed in rural Senegal

Despite advances in understanding seed circulation in rural communities, little is known about the gendered and intersectional power relations that shape farmers’ access to seed. Based on a case study in a Bassari community of southeastern Senegal, we examine the roles of women and men in seed circulation and explore who maintains and who controls access to seed for six staple crops. Combining ethnographic data with social network analysis, we show that gender roles in seed circulation are dynamic: some crops traditionally managed by men are entering women’s hands, expanding women’s custodial role for subsistence crops, while some crops historically managed by women are increasingly mediated by external actors who redirect them toward men, potentially undermining women’s control and creating new dependencies. Our findings also show that gender alone does not explain farmers’ positions as seed access maintainers or controllers. Rather, gender intersects with age, wealth, marital status, and other forms of social difference to structure patterns of seed access maintenance and control. These dynamics vary across crops, revealing how crop’s local meanings, trajectories and political entanglements shape seed access. Drawing on feminist political ecology, we discuss how shifting gender roles create opportunities and exclusions for different groups of women and men. By tracing how seeds change hands, this study highlights the importance of intersectional and situated approaches for understanding seed access inequalities. Ensuring equitable access to locally adapted and culturally appropriate seeds is not only a matter of justice but also a means of safeguarding agrobiodiversity.