Many women have access to cash from marketing activities. Men are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the family eats at socially accepted levels. Men are responsible for providing fuel wood for cooking. Pulaar Women derive prestige among their peers by being superior rice producers. Women grow rain fed rice, by hand with no mechanization.
Few women earn small amounts of cash with market gardens or commerce.
Men ultimately responsible for ensuring that the family eats at socially accepted levels. Current Situation The Mandinka livelihood system is more diverse and these women farmers have as a motivation the over-all well being of their families that leads this system to food security. Both groups are exposed to the same environmental constraints and stresses but Mandinka strategies address, manage or mitigate these stresses better than Pulaar strategies. Mandinkas are still relying mainly on themselves, existing resources and local markets for survival while Pulaars are relying more and more on remittances from men who leave the village. As polygamist societies, female headed households do not exist in these villages.