Photo of photo story from Cecile Poitevin showing a baobab treee.

The images presented here are part of a Photovoice project carried out during my field research in Northern Region of Ghana. Taken by or together with community participants, they shed light on gendered perspectives in Sustainable Land Management.

These photos tell a powerful story: natural resources and indigenous crops like baobab and bra leaves, shea nuts, local beans, and dawadawa seeds are vital to local diets and livelihoods. Women play a central role in this system—they dry, grind, and ferment these resources to prepare daily meals and to generate income at local markets. These practices are not just traditions; they are lifelines for household food security, especially during the harsh dry season.

Yet these critical resources are increasingly under threat. Agricultural intensification, pollution, land degradation, and the mounting impacts of climate change are straining ecosystems. Dawadawa trees are losing their fertility, and shea tree yields are steadily declining—endangering both local nutrition and the livelihoods of the women who depend on them.

Acknowledgment: this research is part of the INTERFACES project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space