Abstract
Mali faces many economic and social hardships. Across the nation, Malian women organize to combat issues affecting family and community development, the most prominent being hunger and economic opportunity for women. Frustrated by an unstable food supply and lack of economic opportunity, Malian women form associations to explore options on how to generate income and improve conditions within their villages. This thesis examines collaboration within women’s organizations in rural Mali, and more specifically tries to identify factors associated with successful collaboration. The purpose of the research is twofold: 1) to determine whether or not the frameworks created for encouraging and supporting community collaboration in developed countries are applicable in a developing country context, and 2) to expand current knowledge on collaboration by studying collaborative efforts in the context of women’s organizations in rural Mali. In June 2011, I traveled to Mali to interview members from two women’s associations in Markala, a rural commune in southern Mali. Twenty-four members from Muso Jigi and ABEF participated in the study through a structured interview process. Due to the fact that the results were so similar within each group and across both associations, I used descriptive statistics to explore the factors that were important to the collaborative process. Descriptive statistics from the structured interviews indicate that the framework for collaboration in the United States is very similar to collaborative methods employed by both Muso Jigi and ABEF. Consensus-based decision-making, inclusiveness, fairness of process, facilitation, and stakeholder commitment are as imperative to collaboration in Markala as they are to collaborative practices in developed countries. Additionally, human and social capital increases as a result of joining a women’s organization, as does the political power of women in Mali.