Women's indigenous technical knowledge and innovative solutions to problems are in evidence across the whole range of food cycle activities. Unlike other books in this series which focus on specific food-related technical areas, this book highlights the broad scope of expertise that exists in rural areas. Section 1 gives a brief account of women's indigenous technical knowledge and its extent. Section 2 explores women's role in the innovation process and how technical assistance has conventionally ignored this. The points made in these first two sections are illustrated and supported by the case studies in Section 3, and the lessons which can be learned from the case studies are presented in Section 4. Section 5 draws on these lessons to offer guidelines for development practitioners working with women.
Women's indigenous technical knowledge and innovative solutions to problems are in evidence across the whole range of food cycle activities. Unlike other books in this series which focus on specific food-related technical areas, this book highlights the broad scope of expertise that exists in rural areas. Section 1 gives a brief account of women's indigenous technical knowledge and its extent. Section 2 explores women's role in the innovation process and how technical assistance has conventionally ignored this. The points made in these first two sections are illustrated and supported by the case studies in Section 3, and the lessons which can be learned from the case studies are presented in Section 4. Section 5 draws on these lessons to offer guidelines for development practitioners working with women.
PREFACE vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii INTRODUCTION ix 1 Local technical knowledge 1 Keepers of knowledge 1 Low status of people's knowledge 1 When 'people' are 'women' 3 Why have women been ignored? 3 2 Technological change and innovation by women 5 What is innovation? 5 Why has external innovation failed? 5 Why are outsiders needed? 7 Recent attempts to support innovation by women 7 Grassroots women also innovate 8 3 Case studies 9 Section I: Women's local knowledge 10 Fermented foods in Sudan 10 Moringa oleifera seeds as natural water coagulants, Sudan 14 Fermented milk in Kenya 17 Milk production and processing in Nigeria 18 Traditional food storage in Kenya 19 Fruit preservation in Sri Lanka 20 Smoke in Sudanese women's culture 23 Potato production in the Andes 25 Section II: Women's local technological innovation 27 Cassava processing in Luwero District, Uganda 27 Nkejje fish in Lake Victoria, Uganda 30 Salt extraction in Sierra Leone 33 Women potters in Kenya 37 Survival skills of Tonga women in Zimbabwe 41 Soybean daddawa in Nigeria 45 Assmi production in Sri Lanka 46 Section III: External support to women's local technological innovation 48 Utilization of soybeans in West Africa 48 Soy mishti in Bangladesh 49 Mechanical cassava graters in Nigeria 50 vi WOMEN'S ROLES IN TECHNICAL INNOVATION Indigenous vegetables in Kenya 52 Shea butter extraction in Ghana 55 Women's milk production in the Bolivian Andes 60 Livestock production in Peru 61 Women squash producers in Zaire 63 4 Lessons learned from the case studies 67 5 Guidelines for development practitioners 75 Appendix I: Contacts 78 Appendix II: References 84
UNIFEM was established in 1976, and is an autonomous body associated since 1984 with the United Nations Development Programme. UNIFEM seeks to free women from underproductive tasks and augment the productivity of their work as a means of accelerating the development process
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