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WOMEN IN FOOD PRODUCTION AND
FOOD SECURITY
Government Consultation on Role of Women in Food
Production and Food Security
10-13 July, 1984, Harare, Zimbabwe
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
Rome, 1984
(i)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
(i) The Food Crisis in Africa
(ii) The Growing Importance of Food Staples, Secondary
Crops, and Gathered Foods
(iii) Food Security
(iv) Mandates for the Socio-Economic Aspects of Development
(v) Mandates to Support "Women Farmers' Role in
Alleviating the Food Crisis"
(vi) Perspective and Purpose of the Paper
II. WOMEN'S CONTRIBUTION TO FOOD PRODUCTION
III. CONSTRAINTS TO INCREASING WOMEN'S ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY
(i) Policy Support
(ii) Data Base
(iii) Access to Land, Water and Other Productive Resources
(iv) Women's Participation and Decision-Making
(ii)
.(v) Extension and Training
(vi) Credit and Marketing
(vii) Women's Need for Cash
(viii) Lack of Aopropriate Technology
SOME MAJOR ISSUES IN PROMOTING FOOD SECURITY THROUGH
EFFORTS TO INCREASE FOOD PRODUCTION
(i) Staple Crops
(a) Labour Constraints
(b) Introduction of New Technologies
(c) Irrication and Imoroved Water Control
(ii) Secondary Food Crops and Gathered Food
(a) Nutritional Factors
(b) Women and Seconary Food Crops
(iii) Animal Production
(iv) Fisheries
(v) Food Handling
(vi) Cbnsulting and Benefiting Rural Women
IV.
I. INTRODUCTION
(i) The Food Crisis in Africa
In the last decade the rate of growth in food'production
has lagged behind that of food demand in 32 out of 41 sub-Saharan
countries, due to high population growth (averaging 3 percent or
more per annum), urbanization (nearly 6 per cent increase per
annum) and growing food demand as a result of rising incomes.
Production has been adversely affected by persistent drought,
precarious rainfall, bush fires, desertification, severe crop
infestation, serious outbreaks of rinderpest and other livestock
diseases, civil strife and refugee problems, shortage of
production inputs and inadequate socio-economic policies.
Between 1969-71 and 1978-80 dietary energy supply as a per
cent of requirements fell in 18 out of the 46 countries in the
Africa Region for which data are available. The serious food crop
failures of 1982 and 1983 in a large part of the continent,
combined with inadequate food imports due to balance of payments
difficulties (in turn compounded by adverse terms of trade for
developing countries and export crop failures) and the shortfall
in emergency food aid, indicate that dietary energy supply will
have further deteriorated in 1982-83. In March 1984 the FAO/WFP
Task Force estimated that 3.3 million tons of emergency food aid
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is required for .24 African-countriesl/ facing critical food
shortages in 1984.
(ii) The Growing Importance of Food Staples, Secondary Crops,-and
Gathered Foods
At the same time that dependency on food aid is growing, a
high proportion of the total cropped area.in Africa is devoted to
the production of crops for which there tends to be relatively
limited technical assistance.
Just over half the total cropped area is under cereals,
while roots and tubers account for approximately 10 percent of
cropped.area. The cereals include wheat (11%), barley (8%), paddy
(7%), maize (23%), millet and sorghum (51%). Rice cultivation is
mainly under rainfed- conditions, with irrigation covering only 5
percent of the total area under rice. That adds up to
approximately 35% of the cropped area under production of millet
and sorghum, roots and tubers. These are receiving increased
attention by governments and the development assistance community
because they are drought-resistant and a good source of calories.
They are staple crops in some countries and secondary ones in
others.
1/ Of which 2.3 million tons had been pledged by March 1984.
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Many wild foods are drought resistant since they are well
adapted to their habitats. When combined with millet, sorghum and
cassava, legumes and vegetables grown as secondary crops, these
foods can provide an essential complement to the staple diet not
only in terms of energy and protein, but especially vitamins and
minerals.
In the face of Africa's food crisis, greater caloric
intake and balance in the diet can be promoted through more
attention to cassava, millet and sorghum and to gathered foods.
Also, animal production, particularly of small animal, can
contribute to balanced diets for poor families as can access to
fish. Where production resources are primarily devoted to
cash-crops, the rural household often tries to improve the family
food basket through different members being responsible for
growing or buying different kinds of foods, with some bringing in
purchases based on cash crops; others producing food staples and
secondary crops or providing gathered foods; or raising small
animals.
(iii) Food Security
The recognition of the inter-related technical, social and
economic dimensions of food security systems has led to a revised
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broader concept of food security by FAO1/. The ultimate objective
is "to ensure that all people at all times have both physical and
economic access to the basic food they need".
In this context, food security is seen to "have three
specific aims: ensuring production of adequate food supplies;
maximizing stability in the flow of supplies; and securing access
to available supplies on the part of those who need them".
Action is needed to secure supplies at household as well
as national, regional and international levels. To be effective,
specific measures should be elaborated within the context of food
strategies that have a basic needs approach. Food is one of a
number of basic needs fdr goods and services. For the rural noor
resources may be spread so thinly that none are adequately met.
In this situation, the contribution of all members of society
need to be actively supported.
There are many strategies which the rural poor use to
ensure better food supplies agricultural production, non-farm
income, outmigration, population control for example. Pricing
policies, credit and marketing facilities and wage labour oppor-
tunities affect decisions.
1/ FAO. Director-General's Report on World Food Security: A
Reappraisal of the Concepts and Approaches. Committee on World
Food Security, 13-20 April 1983.
Rural-urban and rural-rural migration relieves pressure on
food supplies in periods of scarcity, reduces rural unemployment
and provides remittances. Since the most active and skilled men
are often the first to depart, migration increases the labour and
responsibilities of women and children left behind. The number of
female headed households is therefore increasing significantly.
Women's roles as food producers and'providers arej crucial
among the poor. They also tend to be responsible for important
staple crops in many countries; for secondary and gathered foods
which are drought resistant.
(iv) Mandates for the Socio-Economic Aspects of Development
Earlier initiatives to promote food security have been
primarily technical in nature. Their failure to increase produc-
tion and food security inevitably led to a re-examination of
these strategies.
A new orientation emerged in the late 1970s which empha-
sized the need to integrate technical aspects of development with
the social and economic dimensions which are crucial for their
effective implementation. This approach was endorsed by the World
Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD),
1979, which called for economic growth with equity and people's
participation, with the integration of women as a pre-requisite
for success.
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This major policy change reinforced an appreciation of the,
importance of social and economic relations of production within
a comprehensive farming systems approach to agricultural develop-
ment. This led to a growing awareness of rural inequalities in
access to resources and food and a call for redistributional
pol-iies, with particular emphasis on marginal groups.
(v) Mandates to Support "Women Farmers' Role in Alleviating the
Food Crisis"
At the same time, this new focus drew international atten-
tion to the division of labour and household responsibilities
between rural men and women for the production and purchase of
food. Women were seen to be providing 60-80 per cent of labour in
food production and a substantial contribution to cash production
in many African countries.
It was recognized that many opportunities had been lost to-
support women's on-going production as well as domestic activi-
ties and thus to develop their potential in increasing food
production and food security and to bring more benefits for them
and their families.
In fact, the Lagos Plan of Action (1980) calls on govern-
ments to "recognize women as vital instruments for solving the
food crisis and make deliberate provisions to upgrade their
skills and lessen their labours". It also calls for "continuous
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research to promote the recognition and documentation of women's
contribution to agriculture as a productive activity, especially
in terms of food supply" and gives priority to."establishing and
strengthening women's units in planning ministries to enable them
to integrate a plan of action into national strategies".
At FAO, the 1979 WCARRD chapter on Participation of Women
in the WCARRD Programme of Action (1979) pointed out the
importance of women having direct access to land, water and other
natural resources; to participation in group organisationsl/; to
inputs, markets and services; to education, training and
extension and to the development of non-farm activities.
In particular, WCARRD invited governments to give more
attention to women's responsibilities and needs in food produc-
tion and employment. Strong country interest in this approach is
evident from interventions made at the 1981 Committee on Agri-
culture (COAG) of FAO 2/, which led to reviews at the 1981 and
1/ For more details, see FAO Women in Agriculture Cooperatives.
WCARRD Follow-up Programme, 1983.
2/ The FAO Committee on Agriculture is established by the FAO
Conference as an integrated Committee to give programme advice to
the Council, placing emphasis on "the integration of all social,
technical, economic, institutional and structural aspects related
to agricultural and rural development in general. It is composed
of 84 countries and was established in 1970; it meets biennally
to review selected items of importance to FAO's current and
prospective activities in two major Department and the Economic
and Social Department.
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1983 FAO Conferences in which countries called attention to the
important contributions which' rural women were making in
agriculture and the need for greater support to them.
In 1983 the FAO Committee on Agriculture reviewed the role
of women in agricultural production and approved a programme on
women and food staples proposed in March 1983 in the paper
COAG/83/7, "Follow-up to WCARRD: The Role of Women in
Agricultural Production". As part of this programme, a global
expert consultation on Women in Food Production was held in Rome
in December 1983. It recommended that greater attention and
support be given to women's roles in food security at the
household level,. and to the policy and action implication.
Consequently, this "Regional Governmental Consultation on Women
in Food Production and Food Security" has been organised for
Africa where rural women's contributions to the production and
purchase of food are particularly high.
A number of papers, written for the global expert consul-
tation, addressed a variety of women's roles in agricultural
production, with particul-ar reference to Africa. These papers, on
rice farming systems and dairy cattle, sheep,, oats and poultry,
have been re-issued for this Regional Governmental Consultation
along with the COAG background paper and a paper on women in
statistics.
As preparations proceed for the 1985 World Conference to
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Review and Appraise the Women's Decade, to be held in Kenya, more
and more attention is being given to women farmers' contribution
to family food supplies and the means through which to strengthen
this and their benefits. FAO is also preparing a chapter on rural
women in agriculture for the World Survey on Women, a document
for the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements
of the United Nations Decade for Women, to be held in Nairobi,
July 1985. The deliberations of this meeting will be relevant.
(vi) Perspective and Purpose of the Paper
It can be seen, then, that the severity of Africa's
Increasing food crisis and the failure of existing policies and
actions to arrest the continuing deterioration of per capital
production and consumption has in fact led to a greater
recognition of women's crucial role in food production and food
security and to our consideration of the ways in which greater
support for rural women farmers can promote food security,
particularly at the household level.
The contributions which women make to food security
through their roles in animal production and fisheries are also
important to recognize and support. The scale of the food crisis,
and the severity of its impact, calls for innovative approaches
that break through any stereotypes that may exist and dictate
that policies and assistance may be directed primarily to men,
who are not in fact providing most of the labour.force engaged in
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food production in Africa. It should be possible to take advan-
tage of traditional division of labour between men and women, and
the existence of women's groups, to direct. inputs and services to
these groups as well as to individual women. This can permit a
new orientation without confrontation between men and women or
within families.
The perspective of this paper is that in order to increase
food production and food security we need to analyse the cons--
traints to and factors favouring food production. Since women
play crucial but neglected roles in this sphere, the paper exa-
mines the constraints specific to women and proposes measures to
remove these and thereby increase their output and efficiency
while lessening their burdens and providing them and their fami-
lies with incentives and benefits.
The paper briefly reviews women's responsibilities for
cash and staple crop production, for secondary crops and gathered
foods, for animal production, fisheries and food handling along
with the constraints and possible remedies for each sub-sector.
With regard to support for women farmers, governmental and
international initiative could improve general policy; resources
and credit; agricultural practices and technologies; inputs,
marketing extension and training; support of village-level
organizations and research.
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A separate document for this meeting lists possible
actions to be taken in each of these areas. Solutions will, of
course, need to be adapted to local conditions. Examples of
efforts being made or to be undertaken by different countries
will be invaluable as the basis for future concrete action. The
purpose of this paper, then, is to stimulate recommendations to
be endorsed at international, regional and national levels that
are pertinent to women's roles in food production and food
security.
*II. WOMEN'S CONTRIBUTION TO FOOD PRODUCTION
Throughout the African continent men and women have
separate but complementary responsibilities for the production,
purchase, processing and preparation of household food. These
vary considerably according to culture and socio-economic group.
In addition to being expected to look after children and,
on a daily basis to cook and provide water and fuel, rural
African women are often expected to provide a substantial
proportion if not all of the basic daily food for the family.
While some wild foods are gathered, the bulk of food supplies are
either produced or purchased. Women thus need time to grow food
* For more detail see the paper "Follow-up to WCARRD, The Role of
Women in Agricultural Production" COAG/83/7, 1983
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crops and care for animals and/or entrepreneurial activities.
Reducing time demands on women for' both domestic and productive
activities is thus vital 'if families are not to suffer unduly.
Production goals may also be ieopardised by competing time
demands since women's labour contributes heavily to cash crop
production. In some cases women are withdrawing their labour in
favour of food crops.
Men and women not only have separate labour roles for
household food production and cash crops, but also differential
managerial and financial control over production, storage and
sales of surpluses. In sub-Saharan Africa women have crucial
roles in all these aspects of crop production. Men often do the
physically demanding work of land clearing, burning and
ploughing. Women specialise in weeding, transplanting,
post-harvest work and, in some areas, land preparation with small
hoes. Both take part in seeding and harvesting.
In most countries some food crops are regarded as women's
- even though men may contribute labour and women have control
over their use, storage and sale. This is quite apart from their
own cash crop production over which they have complete control.
*4
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In North Africa, where women have a less important role in
field crop production, they have virtually complete responsi-
bility for the processing of crop and animal products. In various
parts of Africa women may play a role in settled large animal
systems herding, provision of water and feed, cleaning stalls,
milking, collecting dung. However, throughout the continent their
major role in animal production systems is processing, particu-
larly milk products such as fermented milk, butter, ghee and
fresh cheese. In addition they often have responsibility for the
husbandry and marketing of small animals, especially sheep, goats
and poultry. These not only contribute to the family's food
security, but also provide women with a personal income.
The fishing sector is also .characterized by a long-
standing division of labour between men and women. Men are
responsible for all marine fishing and most inland fish
production while women play an important, though not exclusive,
role in smoking, drying and marketing fish. Women generally work
on their own account, keeping their financial affairs separate
from their husband's and even purchasing fish from their
husbands.
The complementary division of labour and sharing of res-
ponsibilities forms the basis of many traditional societies' food
security strategies. Specialization by the various members
permits households to undertake a wide range of productive
activities, and thus spread risks. In addition, it facilitates
the acquisition of specialised skills and knowledge.
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Separate responsibilities of men and women for their own
enterprises promotes a strong sense of initiative and entrepre-
neurship. In fact, it is women's traditional independent and
responsible roles which have enabled men to migrate in search of
work and food, leaving the women in charge.
III. CONSTRAINTS TO INCREASING WOMEN'S
ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY
This section highlights some general constraints to
increasing women's role in household food security, particularly
at the household level. These underline the more specific const-
raints examined in the later sections on crop, animal and
fisheries production and food handling.
(i) Policy support
Increasing attention is being givenjto promoting the
effectiveness of women's roles in food production and food
security by the Lagos Plan of Action, the WCARRD Programme of
Action, WCARRD follow-up missions and country food strategies.
However, there is a need to counterbalance the isolation of
issues affecting women in separate sections of reports by
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incorporating specific references to'women, where appropriate, in
the technical sections. Failure to do so tends to lead to their
neglect by policy makers and planners working on technical
agricultural problems,
For example, carefully established agricultural commodity
pricing policy is one of the key elements which would establish
effective production incentives for the primary producers as well
as benefiting rural families directly through increased incomes.
It is also important to achieve the organizational improvements
in the delivery of agricultural inputs and services accompanied
by favourable pricing policies effecting rural women.
Although women play a crucial role in agricultural
production and marketing, in 1982 only 0.05 percent of total
allocations in the UN system to the agricultural sector were to
programmes for rural women. Moreover, the increase in
disbursements between 1974-1982 was less than one-half of that
for all other agricultural sub-sectors. Unfortunately separate
figures are not given for Africa. Presumably women also benefited
from some of the allocations to other agricultural sub-sectors
but given the constraints to their full participation in rural
.development programmes, this is clearly an area in which more
information is needed.
The major share of development resources are still
allocated to technical agricultural projects for men or farm
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families, assumed to be male-headed. Small, separate programmes
and projects are funded for women so governments can be seen 'to
be doing something for women. However, these are often in minor
crops such as vegetables for which there is no market and which
are highly perishable,' despite women's crucial role in the
production of major staple and cash crops and livestock, the
processing of crops, fish 'and dairy products, and marketing a
wide.range of goods.
Such programmes and projects for women are often located
in ministries of social affairs or women's bureau. This inc-
reases their isolation from technical staff and services concent-
rated in the technical ministries.
Finally, women's projects tend to be justified largely on
social grounds and lack adequate appraisal of their technical and
economic viability.
(ii) Data base
A major constraint to the effective incorporation of women
in agricultural development programmes is the sparse data avai-
lable to planners on women's actual roles and responsibilities
for food production.
Current statistical data on women's agricultural labour
force participation rates are often unreliable and inconsistent,
due to use of varying concepts and definitions of economic acti-
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vity and methodological problems of data collection.
The result is that women's economic activities and their
contribution to production for the market as well as household
consumption are seriously under-estimated since: (i) question-
naires often ask for only the main occupation which excludes
women's multiple domestic and economic activities; (ii) many
tasks which are generally unpaid and do not bring a marketable
output (threshing grain and fetching water, fuel and wild foods)
get classified as "domestic" although these activities represent
a vital contribution to family income and welfare; (iii) most
censuses and surveys have short reference periods which may
exclude seasonal activities in which women have important roles;
(iv) separate data is not collected for women's labour roles and
responsibilities for production for home consumption and the
market; (v) women's income earning work is sometimes "invisible"
and therefore unreported because of cultural values about
appropriate roles for women.
Data on other labour force indicators, such as employment
status, male-female wage differentials, percentages of male and
female household heads, and distribution of .assets, are even more
sparse.
Micro-level studies are useful in providing the economic,
social and local political context necessary to interpret the
statistical data. However, most existing micro-level studies are
carried out by academic researchers and are rarely designed to
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serve national planning needs.
(iii) Access to-land, water and other productive resources
Both the WCARRD Programme of Action (1979) and the
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
(33rd General Assembly, 1980) called for measures to improve
women's legal status, in land and agrarian reform. The major
problem, pointed out by the Progress Report on WCARRD Proqramme
of Action for the FAO Conference, 1983 (C 83/23) is that "in most
statutory codes, it is difficult to assess any discrimination
within the laws per se. The constraint remains more in the inter-
pretation and implementation of the laws, women's lack .of em-
powerment in knowing the legislation and utilizing law as a
development tool".
However, most legislation has not promoted women's legal
ownership and inheritance rights and has at times undermined
women's traditional use rights under customary land tenure
systems by registering land in the name of the husband or first
son. This marginalises women in situations of agrarian trans-
formation which are designed to modernize the agricultural sector
and improve equality in access to resources. Since women
represent well over half the agricultural labour force in
sub-Saharan Africa and an increasing number are becoming de jure
and de facto household heads, this acts as a serious constraint
on improving women's productivity and the access of households to
the important foods which women produce.
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While this is a general problem, it is particularly
obvious in many irrigation and settlement schemes which fa-il to
allocate tenancies to women, while enforcing regulations on which
crops may be cultivated. The following are consequences for food
security at the household level:
(i) Households may be deprived of the food crops-grains
legumes and vegetables formerly- cultivated y
women. Thus, additional food must be purchased, often
at high costs. Men are not accustomed to using their
income to pay for foods traditionally provided by
their wives. While they would purchase staples,
supply of other complementary foods may be inadequate
to meet nutritional needs.
(ii) Women's workload on household plots controlled by
their husbands may increase disproportionately at the
expense of their customary personal agricultural and
off-farm income earning activities.
In many countries women have no inheritence rights to
livestock and other productive resources. In other cases their
lack- of knowledge of the law prevents them from demanding their
rights, particularly if cultural factors reinforce male
managerial and financial control over female property. This
seriously undermines women's ability to build up the capital
assets necessary for investing in new agricultural technologies
and to provi-de the collateral necessary for obtaining
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agricultural credit.
(iv) Women's participation and decision-making
African women traditionally have considerable decision-
making and managerial power in their spheres of food production,
processing, storage, marketing and in their domestic role of food
preparation and budgeting. This is inter-linked with their other
non-farm entrepreneurial and employment activities which they
pursue on their own account. These are crucial to provide the
means- to fulfil efficiently their responsibilities for household
food supplies as well as other basic necessities such as clothes,
medicines, utensils and their own religious and ceremonial
obligations.
In many African countries women have traditional social
organizations which are separate from the men's but which are
regularly consulted by the village elders. However, most
development associations such as cooperatives or irrigation
scheme committees rarely permit women to register as members
unless they are household heads and even then they are usually
excluded from decision-making positions. Their exclusion is in
many cases undermining their traditional authority and respect
within the community, while at the same time depriving these
associations of the benefits of women's agricultural experience
and knowledge.
In some countries separate village-level development
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associations may be needed for women. However, in most parts of
Africa there is often no social reason why women cannot
participate equally with men in the same association. In this
case it may be necessary to reserve some official positions.for
women, and to ensure that they are given training in leadership,
administration and financial management.
These associations offer a viable means.through which
resources, inputs and services, extension and training can be
delivered to women farmers.
(v) Extension and training
Extension and training programmes should play important
roles in providing technical advisory services to women farmers.
However, various studies show that extension and training
activities often only provide limited technical backstopping to
rural women. The major constraints appear to be in the following
areas: (i) the training of extension staff is often based on a
purely technical crop production approach which fails to take
sufficient account of the farming needs and socio-economic
constraints of rural families; (ii) insufficient field staff are
appointed, particularly female extension workers; (iii) there is
inadequate coordination among extension, credit, marketing and.
research services; (iv) front line extension officers have
inadequate transport facilities and farming supplies for field
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level demonstration activities; (v) supervision of field staff is
inadequate while technically trained personnel are often confined
to administrative work in the capitals.
Training programmes carried out by farmer training centres
do not generally take sufficient account of the technical
learning needs and cultural characteristics of women farmers. The
schedule and timing of training programmes are often in conflict
with rural women's time constraints. Follow up by field staff is
usually unsatisfactory.
(vi) Credit and Marketing
Existing credit and marketing systems- are generally
inadequate in meeting rural women's needs. Due to institutional
regulations, they are often unable to receive credit in their
own names. Moreover, since they have few assets they cannot
provide the collateral required by lending institutions.
Little effort has been made in most countries to inform
women of credit facilities. The minimum size of loans, the
purpose for which loans are available and repayment terms are
frequently ill adapted to the enterprises in which women are
engaged. Financial institutions are often reluctant to give small
scale credit when they have little control over the supporting
services such as extension and distribution networks for inputs
and marketing, as well as pricing policies, all of which are
essential factors in making the loans viable.
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Improved price incentives and marketing facilities, shaped
to meet the needs of women farmers, are a pre-condition of pro-
duction increases. The latter include: market information and
forecasting services, improved physical infrastructure including
transportation, refrigeration and storage, and the egual partici-
pation of women in production and marketing cooperatives.
(vii) Women's need for cash
Women not only need cash to purchase food and other basic
necessities for themselves and their families but also to pay for
the improved production inputs that are a prerequisite for pro-
ductivity increases. Since food crops are generally consumed, the
inputs for these crops have to be provided from cash income
earned in other agricultural entreprises or non-farm employment
and entrepreneurial activities. Thus in order to improve house-
hold food production, greater attention also needs to be given to
increasing women's earnings from agricultural market production
as well as other income-earning activities.
Women, like men, make trade-offs between food and non-food
crop production for sale. Production of non-food export crops is
often preferred since prices have generally been more favourable
.for these- crops and because research and agricultural services
have for decades been concentrated in this sector. The lack of
24.-
economic incentives for food crops has led to their being
produced primarily for subsistence, particularly in situations
where food is not available in the markets due to low prices,
distributional problems within countries.-or lack of foreign
exchange.
These disincentives to food production need removing as a
precondition for increasing food production for the market. This
is likely to have a larger impact on women than men since women
tend to have a greater responsibility for food crop production
than men and make a correspondingly smaller contribution to cash
crop production.
(viii) Lack of appropriate technology
Insufficient attention has been given to studying women's
time constraints, energy demands and expressed needs for
appropriate technologies. Thus there are many areas, particularly
with regard to their domestic tasks, where appropriate
technologies have yet to be developed for rural African women.
Women should ideally be involved in the design and testing of
such technologies, and both they and rural men be trained in
their use, maintenance and repair. Diffusion programmes would
need to be closely related to credit and extension services.
The lack of adequate attention to appropriate technologies
for women compared with men has at times disrupted the balance in
the division of labour. For example, the introduction of-tractor
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and animal drawn equipment to men has in many countries reduced
male workloads and permitted an expansion in the area under
cultivation while increasing the labour demand for women in
transplanting and weeding without providing appropriate labour-
saving equipment for women.
IV. SOME MAJOR ISSUES IN PROMOTING
FOOD SECURITY THROUGH EFFORTS TO INCREASE FOOD PRODUCTION
This section analyses socio-economic factors affecting
women's participation, processing and marketing with regard to
staple crops; secondary food crops and gathered food; animal
production; fisheries; and food handling. Possible technical
measures to enhance food security are considered in each section;
the need to consider priorities and benefits from rural women's
point of view is also addressed.
(i) Staple Crops
In recent years greater attention has been given to
promoting drought or disease resistant staple crops and early
maturing varieties for reasons of food security. The most impor-
tant drought resistant crops are millets, sorghum and cassava.
While these are considerably more tolerant of water stress than
maize, there are as yet no high yielding varieties to compare
26 -
with the maize hybrids. Moreover, since' they have a relatively
low response rate to fertilisers, little can be done to make a.
substantial impact on yields.
On the other hand, in conditions of 'poor rainfall, there
wil be some harvested crop, while maize is more likely to fail
completely. Since hybrid maize requires the purchase of new seeds
each year and high fertilizer applications, the financial costs
of crop failures may result in indebtedness, increased poverty
and hunger.
The cultivation of early millet is being recommended f.or
areas where rainfall is light or stops abruptly-before the.end of
the normal wet season. Early millet, with its short duration
3-month growing period, therefore takes advantage of the early
rains. However, since it has no awns, it requires birdscaring.
Yields are lower than those obtained with late millet, provided
the distribution and amount of rainfall is normal.
Another early maturing, drought-resistant crop, findi
(Digitaria exilis) is not usually grown on a large scale although
it has low labour requirements and is generally appreciated as a
food. Yields are low and processing of the small -rain is more
difficult and time-consuming than for the other coarse grains.
- 27 -
The -Larger Grain Borer has been causing considerable losses of
maize, dried cassava and-groundnuts in Tanzania since 1981. The
pest is now beginning to spread into areas bordering Kenya and
Burundi. The cassava mealybug is also causing substantial
destruction throughout Africa. Given the crucial importance of
these crops for food security, major international and national
campaigns are being mounted against these and other pests.
(a) Labour Constraints
Farmers' crop choices will involve trade-offs which take
account of drought and disease resistant qualities of these and
other crops (such as rice, yams, sweet potatoes) as well as
dietary preferences. These may vary according to socio-economic
group the poorest being least able to withstand risk. In all but
the lowest rainfall areas where farmers have little choice of
crops, many farmers are likely to cultivate a variety of crops
with different maturation periods in order to spread risks.
Two essential factors affecting farmers' crop choices are
the labour requirements of alternative crops and, since male and
female labour is not always inter-changeable, the availability of
specialised household labour.
- 28 -.
Early millet and white sorghum require more labour inten-
sive birdscaring than late millet and red sorghum. Early millet
is lower yielding than late millet. Many farmers prefer to grow
both crops since this staggers labour demand and minimises risk.
Women's crop choices are also influenced by the relative.
labour demand for the processing and preparation of the various
cereals, roots and tubers. Rice involves the least labour. Pro-
cessing of millet and cassava is generally considered to be more
tiring and time-consuming than sorghum and maize. This is an area
in which the diffusion of improved, low-cost equipment is an
urgent oriority.
Households with little or no active male labour tend to
concentrate production on crops which require few inputs from
men. When men migrate or put most of their effort into cash crop
production, the clearing, burning, and construction of enclosures
which they are often expected to do on women's fields is only
delayed. This leads to late planting and poor yields.
Women's inability to clear thick bush with existing hand
tools leads to longer cropping rotations on land that should be
fallowed after one to three years. Since they can clear light
secondary bush, fallow periods are being reduced, resulting in
declining fertility and yields and increasing erosion.
- 29 -
The increased demand for female labour has sometimes led
to a shift to less-labour intensive, less nutritious crops. In
South East Ghana, for example, where cocoa was introduced but
became unprofitable, many .men migrated leaving women entirely
responsible for the family and for food production. These inc-
reased responsibilities led women to replace yam, the traditional
staple, with cassava. The main reasons for this shift were the
relatively higher returns to labour for cassava measured in terms
of weight and.calories and the fact that cassava can be planted
almost throughout the year and stored in the ground for up to 2
years to be 'harvested when needed. This spreads labour and
provides an efficient method of storage.
However, the replacement of yam by cassava has nutritional
disadvantages. The protein content in cassava is much lower.
Cassava is not usually inter-cropped since it exhausts soil nut-
rients. In contrast, yams are traditionally inter-cropped with
vegetables and legumes which provides additional sources of
vitamins and proteins (Bukh, 1977).
(b) Introduction of New Technologies
The following examples of different types of development
programmes demonstrate the crucial need to take into account
women's labour roles and responsibilities for production and
control of the crops.
- 30 -
The first set of examples concerns the. introduction of
high yielding hybrid maize varieties. The results have been
varied and sometimes unpredictable. Maize hybrids were introduced
in Swaziland and Lesotho with the objective of increasing the
viability of smallholder agriculture and reducing male
outmigration and maize imports. However, farmers now plant
smaller areas of hybrids compared with the traditional varieties,
thus releasing more male labour for migration which brings higher
returns than agriculture. Women's labour and responsibilities for
food production are correspondingly increased (Low, 1982).
In Zimbabwe, where hybrid maize was directly introduced to
women farmers, production has increased substantially (Callear,
1983). In contrast, a programme to encouraQe the cultivation of
hybrid maize in Tanzania through extension and the distribution
of subsidized seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to men met with
resistance from women farmers who predominate in food crop pro-
duction. The result was an increased workload for women without
concurrent control over the income. There was also some resis-
tance to the cultivation of pure stands (essential for hybrid
maize) since maize is traditionally inter-cropped with beans or
cassava. The latter represent a valuable complement to maize
protein and their reduced importance in the farming system could
have negative nutritional consequences (Tobisson, 1980).
A second type of development initiative concerns the
introduction of improved inputs and agronomic practices to raise
production of traditional food crops. A project among the Tiv in
31
central Nigeria assumed the operation of a joint family farm-
despite the fact that men and women traditionally have distinct
labour roles and control of specific crops. Designed to raise
productivity for all food and cash crops, it had an uneven impact
on male and female labour. Women's annual agricultural labour
input increased by 17 percent compared with a 6 percent increase
for men. The distribution of male labour throughout the season
was relatively even while women experienced new labour
bottlenecks during the harvesting, post-harvest and storage
period. Although increases in returns to labour were roughly
equal, men's returns had a larger cash component since they
control a larger share of marketed crops (Burfisher and
Horenstein, 1982).
Spencer (1976) reports a contrary example. A swamp rice
development scheme in Sierra Leone scarcely affected women's
workloads while men and children's labour were substantially
increased. However, since there is no discussion of the crucial
related issue of the control and distribution of the crop, it is
not clear how women benefitted from the project.
An experimental upland rice project in the forest region
of central Ivory Coast illustrates an imaginative approach to
improving women's productivity. Men traditionally clear and burn
the forest and make enclosures while women are responsible for
all other tasks. Experiments include the diffusion of
short-duration, drought-tolerant seeds; rotations with maize,
cassava and Stylosanthes (tropical lucerne) including fertilizer
32 -
and herbicide trials; the use of small tractors run on a
cooperative basis to transport fuel, water and crops to save
women 2-3 hours daily; and the establishment of food crop marke-
ting cooperatives with male and female members (Dey, 1983.).
(c) Irrigation and Improved Water Control
Full irrigatioii permits double and even triple cropping
and partial water control increases the reliability of water
supplies in the wet season The improved inputs and agronomic
practices usually introduced for crops grown with improved water
control increase the total quantity of food available to the
family as well as returns to labour.
In many cases the introduction of new irrigation systems
has reduced women's independent farming roles. Tenancies are
usually allocated to men and women's increased workload
throughout the year on new "household" plots controlled by men is
usually at the expense of their own crops and other personal
income-earning activities. This affects the nutritional balance
in the diet since men do not necessarily purchase these foods
which women were accustomed to produce or buy.
Female-headed households are particularly disadvantaged
since they are often excluded from tenancies. In some cases
- 33 -
widows are allowed tocultivate their deceased husband's plots on
the understanding that their sons will inherit the tenancies.
However, they are rarely represented on scheme committees and
have limited access to extension staff and services.
(ii) Secondary Food Crops and Gathered Food 1/
In recent years increasing attention has been given to the
important role of secondary food crops and gathered food in rural
diets in many parts of Africa. Since women play a predominant
part in their cultivation and gathering, the relative neglect of
women's productive activities has been a factor in the under-
exploitation of these foods which are an important complement to
the staple diet.
Greater exploitation of these foods could provide a
significant contribution to food security and nutrition. Given
the seasonal variations in their maturation, a selection of
plants are generally available throughout most of the year. They
are therefore often crucial sources of food in the pre-harvest
hungry season when staple food supplies are scarce or only
available at high prices (Longhurst, 1983).
1/ Gathered food refers to wild plants and animal f.oods (for
example, roots, leaves, fruits, nuts, animals, insects, fish
and birds) which are hunted or gathered.
- 34 -
Certain crops such as Digitaria exilis findd) have low
labour requirements, mature early, and are also drought
resistant. Cassava, millet and sorghum, which have been discussed
above as staple'crops, are grown as minor crops in some areas.
A number of plants provide a variety of different foods at
different seasons. For example, the baobab provides starchy fruit
pulp (monkey bread), young shoots and leaves. The fan palm has
edible fruit pulp and nuts.
(a) Nutritional Factors
The nutritional value of secondary foods has been largely
under-estimated. Secondary foods generally form the basis of the
sauces and relishes served with the staple, complementing the
nutritional contribution of the staples. They also provide
variety in the diet, which increases palatability and appetite.
The value of the protein in cereals is balanced and
enhanced by combining it with a grain legume (beans, peas,
lentils, groundnuts). Green leaves, orange fruits and vegetables
provide vitamin A (a lack of which causes eye lesions in small
children) and vitamin C. Oils and fats improve the absorption of
vitamin A are energy dense. Even small amounts of animal foods
(such as eggs, dairy products, meat and fish) greatly improve the
nutrient value of the diet.
- 35 -
Fruit and nuts provide energy,.protein and vitamins. These
are particularly valuable for "small children whose limited
capacity to eat sufficient' food at regular mealtimes needs
supplementing with snacks between meals. Fresh fruit and nuts
have the advantage of being energy dense. Moreover, they are less
likely to lead to infection than snacks of left-over meals that
may have been badly stored and become contaminated.
(b) Women and Secondary Food Crops
Since in many African countries women are responsible for
providing the sauces and relishes eaten with the staples, they
have tended to play a predominant role in the cultivation of
secondary crops and gathering of wild food.
Women often gather wild foods and fuel on their way home
from the fields. The cultivation of secondary crops such as
legumes and vegetables in gardens near the home may be more
compatible with women's domestic and child-care duties than
field crop production.
However, women commonly grow secondary crops in small
fields near the major food and cash crops. In some farming
systems secondary crops such as cowpeas, bambara nuts and
groundnuts are inter-cropped with the staple cereals, roots and
tubers. They balance soil nutrients, provide ground cover which
improves water .retention and erosion control, and in some cases
- 36 -
tubers. They balance soil nutrients, provide ground cover which
improves water retention and erosion control, and in some cases
helps to reduce crop diseases and pests.
Women's concern with family food supplies sometimes leads
them to culivate small fields of early-maturing grains. Gambian
women traditionally grew findi as a famine food (Haswell, 1975).
B6t6 women in the Ivory Coast recently started growing small
fields of short-duration rainfed rice which matures before the
major rice crop (Capasso, 1981). In some areas of Zimbabwe women
plant maize in their home gardens three months before sowing the
maize field crops. These gardens, planted before the main rains,
reauire daily watering but produce a crop two to three months
before the main harvest (Callear, 1983).
Secondary foods are often processed at home providing, for
example, groundnut or palm oil, beer, soao, shea butter and gari.
Green leaves and vegetables, fruits, spices and roots are
sometimes dried. Despite some nutrient loss, total food supplies
are increased for periods of scarcity.
These crops or processed products may be consumed by the
household or sold to provide a small income for women. Since they
37 -
are of minor economic importance and processing is traditionally
women's responsibility, they are not likely to become sources of
major cash income and pass under men's control.
The undervaluing of the contribution of these secondary
crops and wild foods to food security and nutrition, and women's
role in their cultivation, gathering and preparation has two
unfortunate consequences.
First, little attention has been given to improving pro-
duction of these secondary crops except as part of crop rotations
or multiple and inter-cropping systems which include crops of
major economic importance.
Second, development policies promoting staple food or
export cash crops have at times led to a decline in the produc-
tion of these secondary crops. In some cases men have shifted
their labour into cash crops, increasing women's labour on cereal
or root and tuber staples at the expense of secondary crops. In
other cases land on which women produced secondary crops has been
taken over for household or men's cash crop production.
In some irrigated settlement schemes, for example, in
Upper Volta (Dey, 1983; Conti, 1979) all the tenancies were
allocated to men for the production of major food or cash crops.
Women were not given any personal plots, despite their tradition
38- "
of growing household staple and secondary food crops. Land pres-
'sure in these areas, together with their stranger status among
the indigenous inhabitants, greatly restricted their opportu-
nities to borrow land for their own food crops.
In the Mwea Rice Irrigation 'Settlement in Kenya (Hanger
and Moris, 1973) not all women secured plots of scarce rainfed
land on which to grow the traditional maize and bean crops for
which they are responsible. Even 10 years after rice had been
introduced as a new staple, beans and maize remained the pre-
ferred food because "it stays longer with us".
Men's control of cash income meant that women who had
insufficient or no land of their own had to rely on their
husbands to purchase the foods they used to grow or buy. Men were
sometimes reluctant to take over all these former obligations of
their wives, while women resented losing the self-respect and
prestige their independent farming and income-generating acti-
vities brought. This led to women with-holding some of the rice
harvest (which was supposed to be sold to the scheme) for home-
processing and black market sales or reciprocated gifts to off-
scheme relatives.
A greater understanding of the nutritional value of
secondary crops and women's responsibilities for these helps
clarify the need which women have for direct access to land plots
in settlement and irrigation schemes.
- 39
To preserve, and preferably increase the important contri-
butions which secondary foods make to the diet, the time demands
on women will need to be reduced and relevant inputs and services
as well as land given to them.
(iii) Animal Production
A wide range of measures are being undertaken in Africa to
increase animal production as a means to improving food security.
These include the reconstitution of herds decimated by drought,
reduction of seasonal fluctuations in milk supplies and animal
body weight, the introduction of improved breeds, husbandry
practices, disease prevention and control, and marketing systems.
Examples of such progrmmes and the implications for women owners
and managers have been analyzed in papers on dairy cattle
(Chavangi and Hanssen, 1983), sheep and goats (Safilios-
Rothschild, 1983) and small animals (FAO, 1983). While some
issues are specific to different types of animals and types of
production systems, all are affected by cultural factors.
Throughout, women's participation in animal production is evi-
dent, along with the need to support this if household food
supplies are to be balanced.
Development policies and programmes tend to under-estimate
women's contributions to animal production, and the processing
and marketing of animal products leading to limited participation
of women in large scale livestock and integrated rural
a~q~ 4
development projects. In part, this is a result of the greater
value accorded to larger animals (cattle, buffalos and camels)
for which women have limited production roles compared with their
more important contribution to sheep, goats and small animal
production, particularly for poultry. Other reasons are a
relative neglect of processing done almost exclusively by women,
and a "failure to distinguish between, ownership and managerial
roles regarding animal production, processing and marketing.
While in many countries women have no formal ownership
rights to cattle, they frequently play important labour and
managerial roles in both the husbandry and processing and sale of
dairy products, often deriving personal income from the latter as
a form of compensation and incentive for their work. Women's ina-
bility to inherit cattle in some countries places female-headed
households in a particularly disadvantaged economic situation.
Development programmes which take into' account only formal
ownership rights may deprive women of access to extension and
training, cooperative membership, credit facilities, and the
proceeds from the sale of milk and dairy products. Women may
therefore not be particularly motivated to increase their labour
inputs, thus limiting productivity.
With increasing commercialized processing of dairy
products by private enterprises, cooperatives or statal organi-
sations, and the enforcement of hygiene and quality regulations,
women are being squeezed out of village-level own-account or wage
employment in the processing and marketing of dairy products.
- 41 -
Lack of technical, expertise, capital and credit limit their
ability to compete, while low educational levels and heavy family
responsibilities restrict their access to jobs in processing
plants.
This leads to: (i) a loss of a traditional source of
income for women, formerly used to purchase food and other -basic
consumption items; (ii) a decline in home production and a
parallel need to purchase the more expensive commercial dairy
products, which may be beyond the purchasing power of the poorest
families; (iii) a tendency among poor families to sell their
milk products and purchase less nutritious bulky foods.
Equally important to promoting women's participation in
and benefits from large-scale livestock projects is greater
attention to small scale projects for sheep, goats and poultry.
Evaluations of some on-going women's projects for small animals
in Africa indicate the importance of recognizing the need to: (i)
base project design on cost-benefit analyses as well as social
concerns; (ii) locate women's animal development projects in
technical ministries and not ministries of social affairs
(Safilios-Rothschild, 1983).
(iv) Fisheries
Fish contribute significantly to the nutritional quality
and palatability of the predominantly cereal-based diets of
low-income groups. Poor conditions of processing, storage and
42z .
cooking can lead to nutrient and food losses and the formation of
toxic products. Since the primary constraint to increased
consumption is the 16w purchasing power of most rural and urban
households, rather than availability.of fish resources, the
development of inland or marine fishing may have to be part of an
integrated programme to raise incomes.
Men and women have complementary roles in the fisheries
sector, with men largely responsible for fishing and women for
processing. Both may be engaged in marketing, depending on
cultural and economic fact-ors. A failure to appreciate these
complementary roles has in the past led to development programmes
focused on raising men's fish production, without introducing
corresponding measures to expand women's capacity to process the
increased supply of fish.
Although the need for balanced development of production,
processing and marketing aspects of the fisheries sector is being
increasingly recognized, little attention has been given to
examining women's traditional methods of fish processing, storage
and marketing and the constraints to increasing their
productivity.
Both fishermen and women engaged in fish processing and
marketing are generally considered to have spare capacity if
demand and prices were to increase to provide sufficient incen-
tives. Given low rural incomes and the relatively inelastic
market for fish in rural areas, it is essential that production
- 43 -
costs be kept low.
Therefore, there is a need for low-cost, improved proces-
sing technologies. The long-standing technique of using 55 gallon
drums for smoking has much to recommend it. Additional drums can
easily be added or removed to accommodate seasonal fluctuations
in supply. Mud brick smokers with grills are proving suitable,
low-cost replacements.
Cost-benefit analysis is required before new technologies
are introduced. For example, the Altona oven is not necessarily
suitable in all conditions since it has high capital and fuel
costs and requires a large throughput to be economic. The pur-
chase of these ovens could create serious problems of loan
repayment.
Fish farming is being promoted for women since it can be
combined with other agricultural and domestic activities. Care
may be needed to ensure that its introduction does not negatively
affect the traditional division of labour.
Women's role in fish feeding complements their domestic
work. Compound and village sweepings (dung and vegetable
peelings) can be used for pond composting. The dregs from millet,
sorghum or maize beer, cereal bran and termites can also be used
as fish feed.
44
44 -
(v) Food Handling
Food handling systems for crops, livestock and fisheries
include post-harvest operations, processing, marketing, storage
and meal preparation. Improvements in the traditional system are
a prerequisite for increased food security in terms of stabi-
lising food supplies and maintaining the nutritional value of
processed and stored foods. Since women play important and
sometimes exclusive roles in all these activities, they must be
fully involved in programmes to improve food handling.
Throughout Africa women are receptive to the adoption of
improved technologies that lighten their workload, increase
efficiency, reduce losses and raise their own and household
incomes. The occasional claim that women are unwilling to change
or experiment because they are conservative or not mechanically
minded masks a failure to recognize serious socio-economic
constraints to the adoption of some technologies.
Women's responses to new technologies are based on ratio-
nal decisions within the context of their multiple roles and
efforts to feed the family. Wherever hullers and mills are intro-
duced women often pay for these services with their own money or
in kind. If they are not available at the village level, women
may find alternative ways of avoiding the chore of hand pounding.
For example, in the Katilu Irrigation Scheme, Kenya, women
economise on domestic labour by marketing their maize production
and purchasing maize flour (Broche-Due, 1983). Women workers on a
- 45 -
multinational vegetable scheme in Senegal purchased with their
-own money milled millet and sorghum although the whole grain is
traditionally provided by their husbands (and therefore "free" to
the women).
It is essential that programmes introducing new food
handling technologies for women recognize and reinforce men and
women's complementary and inter-dependent roles for food produc-
tion, storage, processing and marketing. For example, men may
produce grain from which women make beer. Women make gari from
cassava grown by men. Men fish while women process and market the
produce.
For the successful introduction of new technologies for
female tasks such as grain milling men's support is also
essential. Men may have limited financial means to assist, but
their social support and labour contributions in installing and
repairing equipment, erecting shelters, obtaining fuel and spare
parts or dealing with government officials may be crucial to the
success of such projects. Moreover, a failure to consult, inform
and seek men's assistance where appropriate can undermine the
success of projects for women (Date-Bah and Stevens, 1981).
The major constraint to women's adoption of improved
technologies for food handling is lack of financial resources.
This restricts th3ir access to credit since they can offer no
security. Even in cases where women have collateral (inherited or
saved from their own enterprises), they are often unable- to
- -46 -
obtain credit in their own right.
If new technologies are to improve the efficiency, quality
and output of subsistence food handling systems, the costs cannot
be directly recovered from the same operation. This problem may
be solved if the new technologies result in a marketable surplus.
When women control the product and income they will be prepared
to invest in these technologies, possibly also using income from
other sources. However, if the new technologies result in in-
creased output and increased female labour but the proceeds from
sales are controlled by their husbands, women may have little
incentive to change.
A number of cases are reported (Date-Bah et al, 1982;
Aklilu, 1983) of technologies for women being rejected because
they were introduced to men or because they are socially unaccep-
table (for example bicycle-type mills in cultures where women are
not supposed to sit astride).
Women are frequently responsible for the storage of food.
As an estimated 25 percent of all the food produced in Africa is
lost, due to spoilage, insects, rodents and other pests, the
introduction of improved storage methods to women could contri-
bute significantly to food security.
Commercialised processing of dairy products and field and
tree crops is in many cases displacing traditional food
processing. This often deprives women of an important source of
- 47 -
income. While hygiene may be improved in commercial plants,
prices may be increased, with a corresponding decline in con-
sumption by the poor. Mach'ine-milled grain also has a lower
overall nutritional value than when home-milled. Protein, some
vitamins and fibre may be lost although iron availability may be
higher. The latter nutrient is the one often most needed by
women.
When technologies are appropriate and women have the means
to acquire them, they are rapidly assimilated. A good example is
the introduction of cream separators in Egypt which has enabled
women to increase production and incomes in the processing of
dairy products and to reduce their labour (Aklilu, 1983).
Cooperatives are at present the most promising form of
organization for the promotion of women's food handling acti-
vities. If well adapted to local conditions, they enable women to
contribute labour on a flexible basis, utilizing labour that
might have been insufficient for viable own-account income-
earning activities. They also facilitate women's access to credit
and extension services.
Development programmes have for some time given attention
to helping women improve the quality, hygiene and nutritional
aspects of rural diets. Increasing recognition is now being given
to the need to integrate such programmes with women's production
and income-earning activities since the latter provide the basic
foodstuffs or cash necessary to buy additional food items-.
- 48 -
(vi) Consulting and Benefiting Rural Women
It is widely recognized that rural African women work long
hours .each day as mothers, wives, community members and indivi-
duals. Their multiple roles and the heavy time demands of food
production must be taken -into consideration in development
policies, planning and implementation that affect them. As they
gain more direct access to the productive resources, inputs,
services, technology and training which thely need, rural women's
burdens should be eased. However, rural women are not usually
consulted about their own development needs and priorities.
Development .interventions do not always consider production
capacity of rural women and expected benefits that they should be-
receiving in return. Greater involvement of women in planning.and
action, at group and family levels, would be an appropriate
objective for programmes in all the areas discussed in this
paper.
- 49 -
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aklilu, Delawit. "Appropriate technology for women in. food
production". FAO, Expert Consultation on Women in Food
Production, Rome, December 1983.
Broche-Due, V. Women at the backstage of development. A
socio-anthropological case study from Katily Irrigation Scheme,
Turkana, Kenya, FAO, 1983.
Bukh, Jette. "Women in food production, food handling and
nutrition". Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen, 1977.
Burfisher, Mary and Nadine Horenstein. Sex Roles in the Nigerian
Tiv farm household and the differential impacts of development
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Division, Washington, 1982.
Callear, Diana. "Women and coarse grain production in Africa".
FAO, Expert Consultation on Women in Food Production, Rome,
December 1983.
Capasso, Fiorellai "Rapport sur une experience de promotion
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Chavangi, N.A. and A. Hanssen.
"Wome n in liives tock production
- 50 -
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Conti, Anna. "Women on "Schemes" in Upper Volta, in Review of
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Date-Bah, Eugenia, Yvette Stevens and Vivianne Ventura-Dias.
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Office, Geneva, 1982.
Dey, Jennie. "Women in rice farming systems, with a focus on
Africa".' FAO Expert Consultation on Women in Food Production,
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FAO. Director-General's Report on World Food Security: A
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Food Security, 13-20 April 1983.
FAO. Follow-up to WCARRD: The Role of Women in Agricultural
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-FAO. "The role of women in food production with particular
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Consultation on Women in Food Production, Rome, December 1983.
FAO. Women in Agricultural Cooperatives. WCARRD Follow-up
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Hanger, Jane and Jon Moris. "Women and the household economy" in
Mwea: an Irrigated Rice Settlement in Kenya, edited by Robert
Chambers and Jon Moris, Weltforum Verlag, Munich, 1973.
Haswell, Margaret. The Nature of Poverty. Macmillan, London,
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Longhurst, Richard. "Agricultural production and food consump-
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Low, Allan. "From farm-homestead theory to rural development
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Agricultural Development in Southern Africa, edited by de
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Safilios-Rothschild, Constantina. "Women in sheep and goat
production and marketing". FAO, Expert Consultation on Women in
Food Production, Rome, December 1983.
Spencer, Dunstan. African women in agricultural development: a
case study in Sierra Leone. Overseas Liaison Committee, American
Council on Education, Washington D.C., 1976.
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Tobisson, Eva. Women, Work, Food and Nutrition in Nyamwigura
Village, Mara Region, Tanzania. Tanzania Food and Nutrition
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