ABSTRACT
The record of technological intervention in sub-Saharan Africa has been very variable and the literature contains many examples of the contradictory and unintended effects of technology change for traditional farming households. In practice, the Farming Systems Research and Extension (FSR/E) approach is used primarily to reduce the degree of error in finding the appropriate technical "fix" for market-based problems of agricultural production. FSR/E uses market or monetary criteria to identify productive components in the farm system and to measure their contribution to household income and welfare. Production economists and technicians have concentrated on ways of improving yields and the volume of marketed output to increase household income and welfare. In Africa, a commonly cited problem for women farmers, particularly in the poorest households, is that technological changes have intensified women's workloads without adequate compensation or have eroded their access to land and non-farm income.
