Women's indigenous technical knowledge and innovative solutions to problems are in evidence across the whole range of food cycle activities. Unlike other books in this series which focus on specific food-related technical areas, this book highlights the broad scope of expertise that exists in rural areas. Section 1 gives a brief account of women's indigenous technical knowledge and its extent. Section 2 explores women's role in the innovation process and how technical assistance has conventionally ignored this. The points made in these first two sections are illustrated and supported by the case studies in Section 3, and the lessons which can be learned from the case studies are presented in Section 4. Section 5 draws on these lessons to offer guidelines for development practitioners working with women.