ABSTRACT
This chapter uses case study material from Namibia to examine attempts within the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development (MAWRD) to integrate gender within its agricultural extension services through the Farming Systems Research and Extension (FSRE) approach. Specific attention will be given to the mismatch between the rhetoric of policy at the national level and the implementation of gender responsive agricultural extension on the ground. The theoretical transgression from Women in Development (WID) to Gender and Development (GAD) has been accompanied by recognition of the need to integrate gender into policy and practice. 'Gender planning' has become the tool for achieving this goal and can be considered as an approach to development planning based on the explicit recognition of unequal gender relations between women and men. All shared the conviction that gender equality achieved through a process of gender mainstreaming was a prerequisite for sustainable development.
