How effective is western aid-agency intervention in Africa? What can African women do to manage the AIDS crisis? Can western feminist theory be applied to the rural African context? These vital issues, and many others, are considered in this topical book by eminent scholars and development consultants. The book aims to increase awareness of the importance of women agricultural producers to African material development and to expose the western biases that have traditionally pervaded the study of rural African women. The authors' critical analysis of conventional research methodology and key 'women and development' debates over the last three decades will stimulate new research perspectives.