Should women control the household finance? This is a hot topic among most families around the world, as well as a debate at Science Forum and Tropentag 2013. Scholars from different countries provide varied facts in rural areas and put academic results into practices. Jemimah Njuki from CARE highlighted women played an important role in food production, ensuring adequate food, diverse diets and quality of food to the whole household. In general, women as primary care givers influence child nutrition directly through improved childcare practices, or indirectly through improvements in their own nutrition. Early studies showed, increasing women’s control over assets, mainly land, physical and financial assets, had positive effects on a number of important development outcomes for the household, including food security, child nutrition, and education, as well as women’s own well-being (Quisumbing 2003, Smith 2003; world bank 2001). In Bangladesh, a higher share of women’s assets is associated with better health outcomes for girls (Hallman 2000). Gordon Prain, a Senior Scientist at the International Potato Centre, gave his opinion at Tropentag 2013 based on his field research in Kenya. He stated, in the agriculture system women are very important in the cultivation. If women do the job, they should control the finance resource . If women can decide which crops to grow, it would be beneficial to the children´s nutrition and the whole family. The case study in rural China presented by Xi Zhao from Kassel University at Tropentag showed the different employment status between women and men. Women are more likely to do part-time work as they devote more time for un-paid housework compared to men. They are more involved in household finance decisions, while men are more involved in decisions on which crops to produce. Nozomi Kawarazuka from University of East Anglia drew our attention to the characteristics of gender relations. She presented a case study in South Kilifi, Kenya. The story of fishermen and female trader told us how gender relations play a role in the livelihood security. Fishermen sell their catches to particular female traders who support them by providing credit in times of need. At the same time, female traders also benefit from a particular fisherman’s catch, his assets, his kinship relations and his access to other resources. Men’s control over local resources is a base for demonstrating their masculinity via drinking alcohol and fishing. It could help them to maintain fatherhood, leading to men’s responsibility for and emotional attachment to their children’s well-being, health and nutrition. This study provides insight on the dynamic process of gender relations. It highlighted social support networks which can influence the decision making in the household. These arguments at Science Forum and Tropetag seem to support that women should control the household finance in terms of socio-economic analysis. However, better knowledge of who controls household resources is needed to consider men’s role in the household. Because of the complexity of integrating gender issue into agriculture and development research, cultural analysis in different social contexts, inter-disciplinary approaches and combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods are needed to put academic results into practices.