Gender,Technology and Development

This article reviews recent attempts to include gender and environment issues in de velopment policy, planning and practice. The current transition from the earlier women, environment and development (WED) approach towards a gender, environ ment and sustainable development (GED) approach is highlighted, and possible pointers for such an approach are given.

Of particular interest is the emerging conflict model of natural resource use (FAO, 1997), which necessitates a holistic analysis of the highly location-specific effects of international, national, local and household systems of production, reproduction, dis tribution and consumption and how these affect natural resource depletion in a par ticular area.

A gender perspective would need to be an integral part of such a conflict model. It is, therefore, proposed that a gender analysis and planning framework should be merged with the model of natural resource management platforms for resource use negotiations (Röling, 1994) between different groups of actors, at different levels. As both gender and the environment are social constructs, conflicting interests over resources as well as perceptions of these need to be negotiated between the different interest groups in order to reach more accurate problem definitions and suggested solutions.

This article identifies the different contexts in which discussions on human develop ment have emerged, and how such contexts assign specific meanings and methodolo gies to promote human development. It demonstrates that there are different modes of understanding the terms 'human' and 'development,' and unless these differences are clearly laid out, an integration of these two terms can lead to confusion. Through a review of the debate from a feminist standpoint, it is shown that the dominant dis course on human development so far is overtly patriarchal, despite the recent attempts to include gender in its framework of analysis. The nature of patriarchal power in the human development discourse rests in its ability to maintain the social meanings at tached to biological sex differences derived from male-centered conventions, and an androcentric approach to polity, which restricts the discussions to freedom and justice at the expense of care. Traces of such conventions may be found in the conception of social power and the subject, and in the conception of the economy. In this regard, a feminist engagement with the human development debate and its rhetoric on gender equality must move beyond the level of norms and institutions and tackle the symbolic structure underlying them.

'With' and 'without' technology situations were compared in relation to the package of groundnut production technology introduced by the Legumes On-farm Testing and Nursery Unit (LEGOFTEN) program of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in the late 1980s. The introduction of technology resulted in the emergence of the following indicators with strong gender implications: (a) labor and time allocation patterns, (b) decision-making behavior with regard to the resource use of crop products, and (c) differential perceptions of users, with impli cations for technology development.

The allocation of time to various activities, particularly by women, was sig nificantly influenced by the introduction of the technology. The decision-making pat terns indicate the gender-related segmentation of market and domestic activities; and men gaining greater control over market-related activities and women over domestic activities. Differences in perception regarding technology do exist between women and men in farm households. Women not only perceive technology in terms of its workability but also consider aspects of drudgery, while men are mostly concerned with financial viability. A research and development agenda which incorporates an analysis of gender disaggregated farmer perspectives is likely to lead to a more ap propriate and acceptable technology which will gain further and wider adoption.

This study maintains that the impact of disasters depends on the nature and intensity of the event, but in all cases the impact varies according to the degree of vulnerability of the social groups that constitute the affected population. Women, being more so cially and economically vulnerable than men in most societies, are more severely affected than men. This article highlights the gendered impact of the earthquake and the bias against women in the management of the earthquake in Latur, India.

From September 1995 to June 1996, the Vietnamese Women's Union (VWU), in col laboration with the Dutch development organization, ProFound, implemented the pilot project 'Training of Trainers to Promote Women's Small-scale Aquaculture Enter prises in Rural Areas of Northern Vietnam.' The pilot project provided knowledge and experience to poor rural women on small-scale aquaculture enterprise management through training, and collected data on integrated fish farming, training needs and methodologies through on-farm research. The focus of the project was on the aquacul ture component in the typical Vietnamese integrated farming system, VAC (vuong/ ao/chuong = garden/pond/animal husbandry). The immediate target group of this pi lot project consisted of poor women in rural areas in two northern provinces of Viet nam. In general, the training teams observed that through their contribution to food security and income generation, women were allowed to take more decisions in the management of VAC aquaculture as a result of their acquired knowledge. According to the rural women, their husbands encouraged them to take more decisions in aquaculture management and this strengthened their position in the family.