WOMENS TIME, LABOR-SAVING DEVICES AND RURAL-DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

All approaches to rural development in Africa implicitly require more responsibility and input from women. As a result women's workloads in rural areas have increased dramatically. One of the most time- and ene rgy- consuming tasks performed by women is the preparation of grain. U sing The Gambia as an example, this research investigates the results of the introduction of village cereal mills on the lives of women and their communities. The paper concentrates on women's access to the tec hnology, the time and energy this saves, its sustainability and their level of control. It is found that the energy saved is of great signif icance to rural women, enabling them to contribute more effectively to village life. However the mills have not yet resulted in greater auto nomy and power for women in their communities due to constraints of il literacy and poverty.