In Zimbabwe despite the growing awareness about the role of women in agriculture, agricultural development policies and programmes have not adequately addressed the needs of small farmers particularly women. Most of the income-generating projects that have been directed at rural women have taken the form of small projects such as poultry raising and vegetable gardening. These projects have suffered from lack of infrastructural facilities, inadequate funding, isolation from mainstream development efforts and inadequate policy support. Some of the projects geared to assist women also take the form of small components linked to but not necessarily integrated into larger agricultural projects. In many cases, projects for women have also focused on non-agricultural activities such uniform making, bakery and handicrafts which do not address women's needs for assistance in their primary agricultural responsibilities (FAO 1991, World Bank 1991).
The other was an institutional problem in that the women's programmes came under different ministries initially, Community Development and Women's Affairs, Political Affairs and now under the Ministry of-Employment Creation, as opposed to Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Water Development. This led the other ministries and department, under them to be complacent about taking women's issues, assuming that they were being dealt with, and it was not their portfolio. AGRITEX among them did just that. It is recognised that programming and implementation of agricultural projects are most effectively carried out by AGRITEX in this country. But again the major impediment to incorporating gender issues into food and agricultural development policies and strategies teas been the lack of comprehensive data on the nature and role of women's contributions to food and agricultural production. Data and statistics by gender and activity at the village level are indispensable in framing measures at integrating women in development. It will be the major focus of this project (ZIM/91/005)
Impact of Economic Structural Adjustment on Extension Services
With the introduction of the economic reform programme and the emphasis on cutting back of government expenditure, this also affects AGRITEX's programmes. Though limiting this may be to extension programmes, it poses a challenge to AGRITEX to encourage food crops that are mostly women's domain and the provision of inexpensive and appropriate inputs and technologies. The situation is not so encouraging if one reviews structural adjustment programmes, in the light of shrinking resources and massive male migration and of a bureaucratic under-resourced extension services.
