Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the economic activities of African women. It traces a decline in female productivity as the colonial system disrupted older patterns of production, outlines continuing economic and ideological handicaps for women in the years since independence, and suggests possible alternatives for women and predict changes for the future. The book illustrates major variables related to patterns of production in African women's lives. It describes respectively women's involvement in the two most widely prevalent female occupations in Africa, trading and farming. The book provides an example of women's working effectively at the interface of British contact with African societies. It explores the complex and contradictory contemporary social and governmental attitudes toward women. The book also focuses on the effects of policies devised and instituted to improve the economic well-being of African peoples in different countries.