Accumulation of assets to enable the diversification of activities has been established as crucial in helping the rural poor escape poverty. The empowerment of women has been identified as a way to overcome inefficiencies in the allocation of resources within the family and so improve agrarian households' productivity. However, achieving diversification is not necessarily empowering for women and some initiatives may worsen their position.

This book uses the information collected in original household surveys conducted in rural areas in four countries to investigate the...