ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with a successful “marriage” between anthropology and technology in the Women in Agricultural Development Project (WIADP) in Malawi, Africa. It discusses the Project and giving an overview of the structure of agriculture in Malawi and various types of women in development activities set in motion by the WIADP and other projects. The chapter offers some comments on strategies for getting women into the mainstream of development projects and proposals. The WIADP found that women as farmers were invisible in planning documents because data about their contributions were unknown or nonexistent. The chapter argues that although women farmers were the client group of the Project, the WIADP never lost sight of the fact that only some problems were gender related while others related to smallholders in general. Academic research projects are usually designed and directed by the same person or persons, while development projects funded by donor agencies often have separate design and implementation personnel.
