"Re-claiming" land in the Gambia: Gendered property rights and environment intervention

This paper is an analysis of environmental policies and practices and their impact on access and control of resources within a gender context. The analysis shows how women worked to change usufruct rights and male leaders manipulate environmental policies to "re-claim" the resources for Natural Resource Management projects. Women converted low-lying land into lucrative irrigated vegetable gardens to see projects allow men to take control over the territory. Land inheritance is patrilinear in this area; women often get permission to use unwanted land such as swampland and low-lying land. Market season is short so women carry their vegetables and sell them door to door.