ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the findings and discusses their application to the problem of analyzing agricultural decision-making. It suggests that a rigorous means of assessing the interaction between agricultural and gender factors may depend on developing a complementary research endeavor, namely a study of the longer-term processes of agricultural change. The chapter examines the practical, time-cost considerations involved in incorporating anthropological methods into rapid rural reconnaissance surveys. Agricultural intensification is perhaps the single most important process, ecologically and economically, occurring in Africa today; yet it is poorly described and understood. The questions asked about intensification are, therefore, about the gender factor: questions about men's and women's agricultural practices, social organization, work patterns and income control. Food sales and purchases appear to be increasing in rural Africa. The food sales process is structured by exchanges and transfers within families. Collinson has argued for more open-ended methods to increase the efficiency of the rapid survey approach.
