This newsletter article is maintained in the office of the Agricultural Communications Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign -- "International" file section - "OCIAC" file folder.
INTERPAKS, Describes the cultural based nature of home economics that is a consequence of its particular development in the US. A male agricultural extension service, when transferred overseas, has cultural and value underpinnings that have made the content of training and technical expertise inappropriate or ineffective under conditions in developing countries. To an even greater extent home economics extension, which was aimed primarily at women, has had problems in developing countries in responding to the actual activities of women in rural settings. Home economics, both domestically and overseas, has traditionally ignored farm women's production work because it has had an implicit commitment to certain cultural norms about the proper role or women. These norms may have served some function during a time in the US when the sex ratio was heavily male-biased. In developing countries, however, where sex ratios in rural areas are often skewed toward females, male temporary migration is the rule rather than the exception, and women have traditionally been the producers of food. To be effective in providing a women-oriented extension service, must take into account both the productive and reproductive roles of women and serve to help women better integrate them in their activities.
cited reference, In colonial Africa, scientific institutions were researching into ways of making life easier for expatriates, e.g., tropical medicine and the production of crops for export. With independence, the British handed over most of the research institutes and educational establishments to the new states, while the French retained a strong presence. There is now a severe shortage of trained scientists in black Africa, and heavy dependence on international assistance and transfer of knowledge. It is argued that more enduring structures for scientific and technological cooperation must be developed. (original)
