Gender Relations, Rural Transformation and Technological Change

Abstract

"This paper takes as its starting point evidence of the negative and contradictory effects of technological packages on women's autonomy and status. Just how serious these negative effects are, in quantitative terms, and why women and men should accept this bleak situation, is not completely clear in the existing literature. This paper argues for an extended research approach looking at technological change as a product of social and political relations. Technology is a central component of current food self-sufficiency strategies, and women are primary contributors to food production points to the policy relevance of this type of research."