Gendered tree species evaluation using the bao game

Abstract

T he last few years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of participatory tools in evaluating tree species. These tools are able to generate data that can capture farmers’ perceptions about their preferences and ratings of various species for different uses. Furthermore, such tools are able to capture the differences in perceptions between men and women. One tool that has been successfully used in East and Southern Africa is known as the ‘bao’ game. The bao is a traditional board game played throughout Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. It is most popular among the Swahili people of Tanzania and Kenya. The name itself, ‘bao’, is a Swahili word for ‘board’ or ‘board game’. In Malawi, a close variant of the game is known as ‘bawo’. The bao game is a competitive game in which players move seeds along a matrix of carved out pockets of a board. The number of rows and columns vary, depending on the area. In East and Southern Africa, the game traditionally involves two competing individuals or two opposing groups