SILENCES SPEAK LOUDER THAN CLAIMS - GENDER, HOUSEHOLD, AND AGRICULTURAL-DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Social sciences - and economic theory particularly - continue to treat the household as a socioeconomic unit, in which all members strive for a common end. This conceptualization, which leaves the social relations of gender and the concomitant inequalities in access to land, produce and income unaccounted for, has continued to determine the policies of development agencies, and women and development (WID) units. This failure has gained renewed prominence and political relevance in the efficiency approach of structural adjustment programs. On the basis of empirical household data from Zambia, the article questions the validity of the conceptualization of cash and food crop production along gender lines as equal parts in the household enterprise and instead pleads for a recognition of a gender differentiated concept of control over household production as a basis for future development planning.