| Abstract: | This paper is a starting point for a research project which will try to develop practical methods for analyzing changes in gender relations to inform policy research in improving the storage, processing, and marketing of crops in sub-Saharan Africa. While the research project will focus upon the crop post-harvest sector, many concerns raised in this study are relevant to a wide range of development interventions. This paper is based upon existing literature and offers no new empirical findings. Major conceptual advances in thinking about gender relations suggest the need to reassess conventional gender analyses in the context of development interventions. Evidence from development practice supports the argument that targeting can be undermined by processes of gendered bargaining around project interventions. Academic research points to key problems and potential methods for viewing changes in gender relations which may be adapted to project contexts. Existing gender planning frameworks focus upon shifts in gender relations, but also need to address the process by which gender relations are renegotiated if they are to inform better planning, monitoring, and evaluation. |
