ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the unrecognized contribution of women to subsistence agriculture. It describes the women's role in the production cycle and income from agricultural and non-agricultural activities. The chapter explores the productive role which women can play in the development process to counteract the destructive politics of food and the spread of hunger in rural areas. Generally, the separately designated projects for women, and the systematic effort to exclude women from more significant projects, result in a merely symbolic representation of women in whatever plans ultimately materialize. As providers for the household, women farmers depend on the subsistence farms, and the occasional remittances from male members of the family who left the village. If relatives or members of a village are invited to attend and to participate in a marriage ritual, the occasion definitely disrupts the women's daily chores in their household.
