Women in Food Production, Food Handling and Nutrition, with special emphasis on Africa, Protein-Calorie Advisory Group of the United Nations, New York,
June 1977,222 pages (mimeo).
This report of the now-defunct Protein-Calorie Advisory Group (PAG) of the UN presents a thorough examination of the literature and research perspectives concerning omen,
food and nutrition. Its intent is to raise questions about current nutrition research, with a demand for much wider analysis to include women's role in food production, processing
and handling. Emphasis is on Africa because of women's key position in production systems.
A brief analysis of the historical causes of underdevelopment in Africa, particularly with regard to women, leads into three more substantive sections on: (1) a critical appraisal of how nutrition research has approached women's nutrition-related functions, with a detailed examination of four field studies; (2) an examination of recent social science literature to show the wide range of activities African women undertake and for which they are responsible in food production, food processing and distribution, noting also the changes in women's socio-economic position brought about by economic policies initiated by colonial and/or national governments; and (3) how women are dealt with in the current debate on food and nutrition strategies, looking at UN policy papers. A final section deals with implications for research and action, and suggestions for follow-up studies. An extremely important resource, and helpful bibliography.
International Conference on Women and Food Proceedings and papers. Consortium for International Development, USA, 1978. Department of State, Agency for International Development Washington D.C. 20523 USA
Volume I of these papers gives a summary report on the conference on women and food held from January 8-11 1978 at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA. It also includes conference background papers as follows: "Women, Peripheries and Food Production" by Elise Boulding, "Elements of the Food Production/Distribution system: an overview on how women can contribute" by Douglas Caton, "Sex Roles in Food Production and Food Distribution in the Sahel" by Kathleen Cloud, "A simplified approach to agricultural systems" by Milo Cox, "The world food 'crisis' and the new look in agricultural sector development strategies". John L. Fischer, "The Rural Woman as food producer: an assessment of the resolution on women and food from the world food conference in Rome, 1974" by Marianne Huggard, "Assistance, Hunger, and Malnutrition: the commodity systems approach" by Donald Leeper, "Malnutrition in the developing world"
by George Poyner, "Overcoming malnutrition in developing countries: focus on women and food" by Barbara Schick, "Women, agriculture and development in the Maya lowlands: profit or progress" by Olga Stavrakis. These background papers are an extremely helpful resource on women and food, of which there is little written elsewhere, even though the conference as a whole was obviously establishment-oriented.
Volume II gives an overview of the conference sessions, workshops, volunteered project proposals and additional documents. Both volumes available from AID as above.
Women and National Development: The Complexities of Change Edited by the Wellesley Editorial Committee University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA;
and University of Chicago Press Ltd., London. Also available as the Autumn 1977 issue of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (vol. 3, n. 1; also produced by
U.of C. Press)
This collection of papers is based on a conference on women and development held June 2-6, 1976, at Wellesley College. It includes works on women and development issues in (among others) Africa, Mexico, Guatemala, Turkey and Java, as well as a number of theoretical works. The conference was, however, highly criticized by the Third World women who attended it, and excerpts from their critical paper are included in ISIS Bulletin n. 3 (April 1977).
Women and Food Systems: An Alternative Approach to the World Food Crisis
Elise Boulding,
University of Colorado,
Boulder, USA
May 1975,42 pages
Statistically documents the heavy participation of women in all stages of the world food system and suggests that serious variations in the impact of food policies and programs result from the failure of policymakers and program administrators to recognize either the extent or the nature of women's involvement. Most existing programs deal only with the food preparation and household duties of women and ignore the 30-80% average participation of women in food-related labour force activities outside the home. The paper examines the "invisible", male-biased conceptual gaps in current academic disciplines which hinder realistic food policy and program development — e.g. in agricultural economics, nutritional science, medicine, and agricultural science. Exploration suggests that these disciplines overestimate world food problems because they underestimate food resources outside the male-dominated market system and — because of ignorance and m i s i n f o r m a t i o n about obstacles t o conservation
stemming f r om women's severe workload — overestimate what can be done. This ignorance and m i s i n f o r m a t i o n about women (the major T h i r d World poverty-level f o o d producers) could be ameliorated through women's p a r t i c i p a t i o n in policy and program analysis and decision making, ( f r om Development
as i f Women Mattered, edited)
Les Carnets de I'Enfance/Assignment Children Unicef, Palais Wilson, Case Postale 1 1 , 1211 Geneve 14, Switzerland
Issue no. 3 6 , October-December 1976 is e n t i t l e d " A l l e v i a t i ng women's burdens"/"Alleger le fardeau des femmes"; a c o l l e c t i on of articles and case studies, mainly dealing with A f r i c a and Latin America, specifically looking at village and appropriate technology.
Development as if Women Mattered: an Annotated Bibliography w i t h a T h i r d World Focus May Rihani w i t h Jody Joy New TransCentury Foundation Secretariat f o r Women in Development 1789 Columbia Road, N.W. Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 0 9 , USA 1 9 7 8 , 1 3 4 pages
A well annotated and evaluative bibliography covering socioeconomic participation, migration, education, rural development, health, organizations, communications, the
impact of development and modernization.
Who Really Starves? Women and World Hunger Lisa Leghorn and Mary Roodkowsky Friendship Press, New Y o rk 1 9 7 7 , 4 0 pages
Although the majority of the world's farmers are women, i t is women as a group who suffer most f r om inadequate f o o d supplies all over the w o r l d . W r i t t e n by two feminists, this booklet examines the significant role women have always played in agriculture and n u t r i t i o n and w h y modernization and "development" so often are detrimental to the lives of women. This booklet can be used as a study guide for those concerned about w o r l d hunger and women.
Water, Women and Development Noracy Ruiz de Souza Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs Vienna, Austria 1 9 7 7 , 2 2 pages
In the poor areas of developing countries, the task of water carrying falls to women and it is o f t e n a heavy and timeconsuming task. Modernizing water supply systems, however, should not aim only at relieving women f r om their t r a d i t i o n al task, for this would be detrimental to their social stutus. Instead the importance of women's role should be maintained while reducing hardships
The Forgotten Factor I n g r id Palmer, People, V o l . 4 No. 3 International Planned Parenthood Federation 18-20 Lower Regent Street, London SW1Y 4PW, England
1 9 7 7 , 3 pages
Starting f r om the statement that a higher proportion of women than men are f o u n d in rural areas, and that women have always been major producers of essential goods here, I n g r id Palmer goes on t o look briefly at the effects of "dev e l o p m e n t " on women's access to land in A f r i c a , Asia and L a t i n America. She notes that they have lost out in all three c o n t i n e n t s , for different reasons (land monopoly by an oligarchy in Latin America, shortage of land in Asia, lack of legal access t o land in A f r i c a ) , and sees an urgent solution in shoring up women's economic a u t h o r i t y by providing them c r e d i t and technical aid. Arguing that women have always subsidized market production by their unwaged labour in t h e house (producing f o o d for the f a m i l y ) , the author's main point is that whole households or groups of households must be taken as the " u n i t of a c c o u n t " so that loans can be made t o groups of people collectively, rather than the wage earner/ head of the f a m i l y (always seen as a man). A useful overview of the problems of women/land/credit/decision-making.
Women's Role in Economic Development Ester Boserup St. Martin's Press, I n c . my 175 F i f t h Ave, New Y o r k , New Y o r k 10010 1 9 7 0 , 2 8 3 pages
A pioneering study, this book surveys women's activities in various farming systems, the impact of modernization and development, concepts of land ownership and other influences resulting f r om Western contacts. Ester Boserup clearly shows how many so-called development programs and policies are detrimental t o the lives and needs o f women.
Integration of Women in Development: Why, When, How Ester Boserup and Christina Liljencrantz United Nations Development Programme United Nations Plaza, New Y o r k , New Y o r k 10019 1 9 7 5 , 4 2 pages
This article notes that development often results in the loss of many income generating activities for women. Women must be given alternative employment and taken into consideration in development planning.
The Changing Role of Women in Rural Societies: A Summary of Trends and Issues The Agricultural Development Council • i . i ^ i i j T i ' ' 1290 Avenue of the Americas
New Y o r k , New Y o r k 10019 February 1977, 11 pages
Based on research in 23 countries, this report presents a number of general conclusions about women in rural societies, such as the omission of women's contribution in labor statistics, the effects of development on women's status.
The Changing Role of Women in Rural Societies: A summary of trends and issues Gelia T. Castillo Agricultural Development Council, Inc. 1290 Ave. of the Americas,
New York, NY 10019, USA February, 1977, 9 pages
Report of a seminar in Poland, 1976 which looks at trends in Eastern Europe and USSR as well as some countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Lists participants and seminar papers, notably: "Productive Role of Farm Women in Yugoslavia", by Ruza First-Dilic, "Social Position of Women and Food Production" (Poland) by Barbara Tryfan, 'The Status of Women in G.D.R. Agriculture" (German Democratic Republic) by I. Muller and K. Fleischer
The Role of Women in Rural Development , Nici Nelson «• Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex n Brighton, UK ; December 1978,53 pages
A selection of books, articles and papers available in the libraries of the Institute of Development Studies and the University of Sussex on women in rural development.
Food, Fertility and Nuclear Mothers Barbara Rogers - .. Populi . 1978, 5 pages
This articles shows how development often increases the burdens on mothers: the traditional duties of men and children fall increasingly to women as the nuclear family
becomes a global phenomenon. It also argues that women need to have control over their fertility.
africa
Aid and Self+lelp Elizabeth O'Kelly, Charles Knight, London,1973.
A critical look at the sometimes disastrous effects of aid in developing countries, with a plea for emphasis on self-help and self-reliance. The second part of the book describes a successful women's local development project in the Cameroons in the 1950's. "In an attempt to reduce the women's workload corn mill societies were formed, the members of which paid a set sum per month for the use of a mill given to them on loan. At the end of the first year, 30 villages had repaid their loans, and more mills were purchased for distribution to newly formed societies.
"As the women's leisure time increased, from the social gatherings that took place around the corn mills came the idea of classes in such subjects as cookery, soapmaking, child care and nutrition. In order for the classes not to be interrupted by the rainy seasons, the women set about making bricks and cutting bamboo, and then persuaded their husbands to do the building. These halls later began to be used by the Medical Department for monthly clinics, which until then had been few and far between. The mill societies spread over the Province, totaling 200 societies with some 18,000 members.
"As their strength increased, the societies began to tackle some of the women's most pressing problems. In order to protect their farms from straying cattle, the women bought barbed wire on loan, which they repaid by putting more land under cultivation, often starting a society farm. The Department of Agriculture sent in assistants, and new strains of corn were introduced, producing crops abundant enough to ensure a food supply throughout the year. Through experimentation, better methods were developed to store the crops. Poultry schemes were also begun, village plots were reafforestated with eucalyptus trees, and water storage facilities were built, the overflow being used for showers and supplying a wash house.
' T h e societies' most ambitious scheme was the establishment of a cooperative store to allow them to import articles otherwise unobtainable, such as farming implements and sewing machines. The initial capital was provided by the contributions of 5000 women. Several stores were soon in operation". (Abstract by Janet Nelson, in Les Carnets de TEnfance as above).
Appropriate Technology for African Women, Marilyn Carr, African Training and Research Centre for Women of the Economic Commission for Africa, United Nations, Box 3001 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Three sections cover: (1) the reasoning behind, the relevance and application of appropriate technology in countries in Africa — looking at agricultural production, irrigation water supply, crop processing, storage, food preservation, household fabrics, shelter, consumer goods, community goods and services; (2) the role of African women in the development effort and how important it is that improved technologies reach them as well as men — gives numerous examples of how men have been trained, but women do the work; (3) description of some of the village-level technologies which are currently available to help African women and looks at the work being done by various organisations in Africa.
Elise Boulding Institute of Behavioral Science University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado March 1975, 44 pages
Concentrating on Africa, this paper looks at women's productive role in agriculture and the way in which this is linked to reproduction in the need of overworked women to bear children as additional field hands. Gives tabulated data on percentage of women in agriculture, their education etc. and concrete suggestions about what farm women need: technology, support services, training, credit and market facilities, legal protection, and participation in local/national/ international decision-making and planning.
African Women: A Select Bibliography Laura Kratochvil and Shauna Shaw African Studies Centre Cambridge, United Kingdom 1974, 72 pages
A bibliography on African women and rural development.
African Women in Rural Development: Research Trends and Priorities Achola 0. Pala OLC Paper No. 12, December 1976 Overseas Liaison Committee, (OLC)
American Council on Education, 11 Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20036 USA '
Achola Pala traces the historical and central role of women in agriculture and food production In Africa through an analysis of the literature, and looks at the impact of colonial (cash) economy on women. She concludes by outlining some research priorities: access to land; labour allocation; time budgeting; decision-making in the household; male outmigration; agricultural training; participation of women in marketing and cooperative societies; women's self-help and work groups. Other OLC papers include African Women in Agricultural Development; A Case Study in Sierra Leone (No. 9) by Dunstan Spencer, and Economic Research on Women in Rural Development in Northern Nigeria (No. 10) by Emmy Simmons.
The Role of Women in Rural Zaire and Upper Volta: improving methods of skill acquisition David A. Mitchnik, Oxfam, Oxford, UK 1978, 36 pages
Begins with a description of the social and economic activities of the rural family in Zaire and Upper Volta showing how traditional women in both countries had certain economic independence, and that women's agricultural work is vital to their families' struggle for survival. Goes on to assess some agricultural projects and their effect on this traditional pattern, and finally suggests ways of improving skill acquisition for men and women in rural areas
International Workshop on Education for Rural Women Loshoto Tanzania November 1976,109 pages Reports and papers from a government and UNICEF
sponsored workshop dealing with: why women have been left behind in development, basic services such as health and education in the village, the role of women's organizations in Tanzania, village technology, including practical details on food preparation and preservation, women in agriculture, the importance of communications
Women Farmers and Inequities in Agricultural Services Kathleen A. Staudt, Rural Africana No. 29, African Studies Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Winter 1975-76,14 pages
Provides empirical evidence of discrimination against women in the provision of farm extension services (farm visits, training and loan acquisition) in Kenya. The author cites prejudice against women as the reason for the "persistent and pervasive bias" they experience in the delivery of agricultural services, using data from 212 small-scale farms in Kakamega District, (from Development as if Women Mattered, edited)
asia
Profile of a Female A g r i c u l t u r a l Labourer Leela Gulati Economic and Political Weekly, V o l . X I I I , N o . 12 Skylark 2 84 Frere Road, Bombay 4 0 0 0 3 8 , India
March 2 5 , 1 9 7 9 , 9 pages
"Who are the w o r k i n g women of India ? What is the value of their labour? This article attempts to answer these broad questions concerning female labour in India by presenting an individual profile: ' K a l y a n i ' , a 35-year old female labourer belonging to the scheduled caste, living in a squatter settlement in T r i v a n d r u m .
The principle strands of this p r o f i le are t h a t ' K a l y a n i ' is o n ly one link in a long chain of agricultural labourers stretching back to generations; that her children, despite whatever 'education' they have been able t o receive, w i l l continue in the same occupation; that hunger, disease and indebtedness are an integral part of their life; that there is l i t t le prospect of anyone in the f a m i l y breaking out o f t h i s vicious c i r c l e ", ( f r om the i n t r o d u c t i o n ) Highly recommended.
Indian Farming New Delhi, India - - - irt.,?-'>.s;3 V o l . X X V No. 8 , November 1975 is a special issue entitled
"Women in A g r i c u l t u r e " . It is a c o l l e c t i o n of 22 articles of varying depth and interest. Most notable among them are: "Women in A g r i c u l t u r e " b y Vina Mazumdar, "Landless A g r i cultural Women Workers - A Statistical P r o f i l e " by A t r e yi Chatterjee, " A Leading Role in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry" by Kokila P. Bhatt, and "Women Plantation Workers" b y K u m u d Sharma.
VSanrizuka: 1966-1977 - The People Live! Ampo P.O. Box 5250 T o k y o I n t e r n a t i o n a l , Japan 1 9 7 7 , 3 6 pages
A photo history by Fukushima K i k u j i r o of the struggle of t he farmers of Sanrizuka, Japan, this issues of AMPO illustrates how the women and men o f t h i s area resisted t h e government takeover of their land for the New T o k y o International A i r p o r t . Many women and young girls were in t he f o r e f r o nt of this resistance and f o u g h t courageously for years.
Tales o f T w o Women Voices CCA-URM ^ 2-3-18 Nishi-Waseda,Shinjuku-ku is« te T o k y o 160,Japan March 1978, 5 pages *
Two Filipino women, one rich and the other a poor sugar worker, describe their daily life in their own w o r d s . The sugar worker's struggle to feed her family and t o organize her domestic w o r k is s i m p l y but v i v i d l y expressed.
Reason Wounded Primila Lewis Vikas House Pvt. L t d . New Delhi, India 1978 ~
In this book, Primila Lewis describes her participation in a peasant organization and basic human rights movement in India. In the face of r i c h , often absentee, landlords who were e x p l o i t i n g them, the author and her friends organised a union of farm workers to obtain the m i n i m um wage and r a t i o n cards due them. This book is an account of their struggle and of the author's imprisonment because of her activities in organizing against the rich landowners. A very interesting book, especially since it was w r i t t e n by a p a r t i c i pant in the movement and not by an outside observer or academic.
latin america
Boleti'n Documental Sobre Las Mujeres C I D H A L (Comunicacion, Intercambio y Desarrollo Humano en America Latina) Apartado 597 . Cuernavaca, Moreles, Mexico
This b u l l e t in in Spanish contains several articles about women and agriculture in L a t i n America in its past issues.
Some Structural Constraints on the Agricultural Activities of Women: t h e Chilean Hacienda Patricia M. Garrett Paper prepared for Conference on Women in Development, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. USA, June 1976, 4 5 pages
Examines social class and sex differences t o analyze structural constraints on the participation of women in agricultural p r o d u c t i o n in Chile. Trends observable in Chile since 1935 include the decline in the number of individuals employed on large estates and the increased use of temporary wage laborers and unremunerated family members. Another major t r e n d in the agricultural labour force is the increasingly dissimilar work of men and women. The author contends that the hacienda land tenure system restricts independent employment by making the m a j o r i t y of the rural population dependent on jobs available on the estates. Estates tend to be underexploited and thus generate a l ow level of demand f o r the large supply of available labor; as a result wages remain l ow and a surplus labour supply remains in resen/e. The young,
t h e o l d and women are t he groups outside the labour market, making them dependent on the husband/provider and making men vulnerable to unemployment. Women are alienated f r om the labor market and c o n f i n e d t o domestic production, which rarely provides them an independent means of income, ( f r om Development as i f Women Mattered, edited)
Alternatives for Peasant Women: a view from a village in Yucatan Mary Elmendorf undated (after 1975), unpublished, 18 pages
Explores the effect of modernization on the roles and status of peasant women, finding that traditionally peasant women in Mexico had equal status with men in many areas. Also looks at their choices in the light of urbanization
Changing Social Relations of Production and Peruvian Peasant Women's Work Carmen Diana Deere Latin American Perspectives issues 12 & 13, Vol. 4 Nos 1
and 2, Winter and Spring 1977, 22 pages
A comparative analysis of changes in women's work in the historical context of the development of capitalism in agriculture — the effects of this process on different groups of rural women. Historical socioeconomic aspects of women's work on haciendas are examined as well as the development of capitalism, changes in women's work, and the effect of the agrarian reform on women, (from Development as If Women Mattered, edited)
FILMS
The Double Day * 56 mins., colour, 1975 f-
Shows women's working conditions in Latin America through the voices of women from different income levels who work in agriculture, mining, commerce, domestic services and manufacturing. From Tricontinental Films, 333 6th Ave., New York, NY 10014, USA.
Mujer de Milfuegos 1 5 mins. colour, Spanish and English
Expressionistic, surrealistic portrait of Latin American women doing daily repetitive tasks such as preparing food, caring for children, doing farm and home chores. Insight Exchange, Box 42584, San Francisco, Ca 94101, USA.
My Country Occupied 30 mins. Spanish
A film on Guatemala that follows the journey of a peasant woman from the country to the city and back, and the role of US agribusiness in that migration. Newsreel/Resolution, 630 Natoma, San Francisco, Ca. 94101, USA. US$30.00.
All the above films are mentioned in a catalogue put out by EARTHWORK, 1499 Potrero, San Francisco, Ca. 94110, USA. EARTHWORK is an education / organizing center on issues related to food and land. Their catalogue is called Films on Food and Land, listing some 250 films, with notes as to how to obtain them, and how to use them as educational tools. It is one of the many resources that they have available for teachers, organisers and activists concerned with these issues.
Tools of Change Introduction to Appropriate Technology by Peter Krieg, 16 mm. 30 min., colour i
Tries to explore the role of technology in history, society and development. Emphasizing the question, "appropriate for what and for whom?", it relates appropriateness to development goals instead of to size. Although the film shows examples from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, it is not a catalogue of "appropriate technologies" or a manual to construct simple tools, but rather an introduction to a development concept in which technologies are regarded as "tools for change" — means to reduce inequalities within and between countries.
Medicine of Liberation Aspects of Primary Health Care in Mozambique Peter Krieg & Heidi Knott, 16 mm. 30 min., colour
Depicts the struggle of FRELIMO to bring health care into rural areas during and after the fight for independence in Mozambique. They trained first aid assistants and rural
medical aides,supported by one doctor and few nurses. Nearly all aides are women.
Bottle Babies by Peter Krieg, 16 mm. 26 min. colour
Explores the alarming increase of what has become known as the "lactogen syndrome" (after Nestle's baby milk called Lactogen), an example of the tragic human consequences resulting from the influence of multinational corporations in the Third World - babies dying from being bottle fed. (See ISIS No. 7 on women and health).
All these films available from: Teldok Films, Schillerstr. 52, D-7800 FREIBURG, West Germany. (Films for sale or rental)
Two basic books on the analysis of the "world food crisis", food production and consumption worldwide, and invaluable reading are: Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity, Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1977.
Using a question and answer format, this book sets out to explode myths about food scarcity in the world, and concludes with a series of positive actions that can be taken. Good bibliography and publications list.
How the Other Half Dies: The Real Reasons for World Hunger, Susan George, Pengiun, 1976
Contends that the reason so many people are hungry in the world is not because of overpopulation, bad weather or changing climates, but because food is controlled by the
rich. Multinational agribusiness corporations, Western governments with their food "aid" policies and supposedly neutral multilateral development organisations share the
responsibility. Good, readable analysis.