Over the last fifty years, massive development processes have occurred in the
countries of Southeast Asia. Very few have helped rural women. Indeed, policies
on development, labour, agriculture, environment, and population rarely consider
women's views and needs. The development paths followed by Southeast Asian
countries are based increasingly on monocentric industrialisation in urban
centres where resources and services are increasingly concentrated. This has led
to a relative shrinkage of the rural sector, increasing food prices and creating
an unhealthy reliance on supplementary food imports. Rural communities in
general and rural women in particular are especially vulnerable to the processes
of impoverishment. These include: the degradation, depletion or