All approaches to rural development in Africa implicitly require more responsibility and input from women. As a result women's workloads in rural areas have increased dramatically. One of the most time- and energy- consuming tasks performed by women is the preparation of grain. Using The Gambia as an example, this research investigates the results of the introduction of village cereal mills on the lives of women and their communities. The paper concentrates on women's access to the technology, the time and energy this saves, its sustainability and their level of control. It is found that the energy saved is of great significance to rural women, enabling them to contribute more effectively to village life. However the mills have not yet resulted in greater autonomy and power for women in their communities due to constraints of illiteracy and poverty.