Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Title: | Changing Relations of Production in Southern Malawi's Households: Implications for Involving Rural Women in Development |
Author: | Davison, Jean |
Year: | 1992 |
Periodical: | Journal of Contemporary African Studies |
Volume: | 11 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 72-84 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Malawi |
Subjects: | gender relations women rural households Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Development and Technology Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Cultural Roles Labor and Employment agriculture Sex Roles |
Abstract: | Rural development and income-generating activities requiring women's cooperative production have been part of development agencies' tool kit of the last decade. In some places in Africa these efforts have taken hold, but in other areas such as Malawi, they have been less than successful. The tendency to gloss cooperative production for most of Africa without taking into consideration cultural and regional variations, and conceptual confusion related to analysing production are two factors which have contributed to the failure of externally inspired income-generating projects in southern Malawi. This paper begins with a discussion of the concepts of cooperative, communal and collective production, and their applicability to the household level of production. Explanations for why Malawian women prefer 'banja' (matrilineally based individual family) production to other forms of production, drawing on data gathered in 1992 in Zomba district, follow. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of 'banja' production for development efforts designed to meet rural women's needs. Note, ref. |