Provision of improved wells is part of the Integrated Agricultural Develop­ment Programme (IADP) in Sierra Leone. This study surveys the wells development scheme of two Integrated Agricultural Development Program­mes (IADPs). The schemes are meant to address women and their needs in rural areas. It is believed that women have to spend too much time gathering water, therefore, they are unable to be involved in economic activities-farming and trading. The schemes are meant to release labour from water collection to be used in economic activities. The time budgets of women in two villages with improved wells(Gbo­worbu and Kambia) and two villages without improved wells (Saina and Rolilia) arc not significantly different. Improved wells in the first two villages have not saved women's time collecting water. Improved wells are not specifically designed to benefit women directly, but it is implicit in the rhetoric of funding applications that improved water sources will strengthen and benefit women in the domestic economy.