This article argues that women must be involved in any attempt to increase agricultural output in sub-Saharan Africa in the ‘short run’. So many women are currently involved in agriculture that it would be impossible to increase productivity significantly unless the productivity of women is increased as well as the productivity of men. C.H. Gladwin and D. McMillan (1989) argue that increasing the productivity of women’s labour in agriculture may be less important in the long run, on the assumption that rising family incomes will lead to a reduction in female agricultural labour force participation over time, as women spend more time caring for the family working in service employment. The present analysis is an attempt to find out if ‘turn around’ in agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa is possible without assisting small-scale peasant producers, including women. Bibliogr., sum. (Also published in: Journal of Eastern African Research & Development, vol. 25 (1995), p. 1-15.)
