In 1982/83, due to either economic pressure or profit motivation, 30 per cent of the men in a random sample of 200 smallholder banana‐coffee farms in the Kagera region of Tanzania had adopted a more liberalised division of labour, and engaged in operations and horticultural farm enterprises that traditionally are the responsibility of women. A linear programming model is used to estimate the impact of gender roles on farm incomes and resource productivity among the sample. The results suggest that by liberalising sex roles, cash incomes could increase by up to 10 per cent while the productivity of labour and capital would improve by 15 per cent and 44 per cent respectively. In view of the economic benefits to be reaped, it is recommended that, within the framework of economic adjustment, African governments should launch campaigns to enhance this process because gender roles impair efficienc