Development policies and programmes/projects for aquaculture on gender issues
Health and nutrition characteristics
Although the need for socio-economic information on aquaculture planning and project formulation has gained recognition in the recent past, these data have not been included in conventional information collection systems in the fisheries and aquaculture administration of many countries. Neither has there been much consideration for developing operational and systematic approaches or strategies to consider gender concerns. For integration of gender issues into aquaculture planning, the starting point is better awareness of gender issues. Such awareness has to come through data.
This section highlights key issues which provide an entry point for planners in analyzing and incorporating gender-related socio-economic issues at the macro-level, including information for sectoral planning and project formulation.
There are several actions that a government department or a project could undertake to address gender issues. The areas of action vary from the structure of their own organization, their policies and working methods, to staff training. The effects of actions which do not take gender aspects into account as well as recommendations for courses of action to remedy this situation are discussed in more detail below.
Key questions: What are the existing national/donor policies and objectives in support of gender issues in aquaculture? What strategies and programmes in support of gender issues have been undertaken? What are their achievements and constraints which need to be addressed?
Knowing existing government and donor policies and objectives on aquaculture and on gender issues is the first step in sectoral planning. This provides the basis for future development interventions. Past activities and current programmes in support of gender issues should be reviewed to establish the actions taken to meet national and donor objectives and the level of commitment to meeting these objectives.
Another area of consideration is budgetary allocation to gender issues by the national government and by donors. Special budget allocations for gender issues show a general commitment to implement policies. However, one must be aware that money allocated to gender issues does not necessarily represent actual activities implemented at the practical level on gender issues, unless specified.
1 Institutions include governments, research, training and educational institutions, universities and NGOs.
Key questions: What gender expertise is available within institutions? Which institutions are suitable for cooperation/collaboration on gender issues? Do the relevant institutions require assistance in gender skills?
Gender awareness, and competency in gender analysis in existing institutions, provide the starting point for the development and implementation of gender-sensitive programmes. In some countries, activities related to gender issues are administered by other ministries (Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare etc.) with which aquaculture staff rarely have contact. Consequently, aquaculture officers often have limited access to general socio-economic information and gender-specific information in particular; moreover, when available they find it difficult to incorporate this information in sector and project planning.
One approach is to identify and collaborate with relevant institutions competent in collation, collection and analysis of gender-related information during sector planning and project formulation and for monitoring and evaluation. Where competency in gender analysis is weak or non-existent, another approach would be to strengthen skills in gender analysis by training.
Key questions: What are the roles of men and women in fish farming? How do the resource requirements of the different culture systems affect men and women ? Which fish species are kept in ponds ?
Few women own fish ponds. This does not mean that they arc not involved in fish production. The majority of women assist men in pond construction, feeding and fertilizing, as well as harvesting. Two main factors appear to have contributed to this situation:
- The choice of the technology and intensity of production. Past experiences have shown that more intensive fish culture systems are not within the reach of many small-scale farmers, especially women. Access to resources differ for men and women, and some of the biggest constraints women face are time and labour. A different kind of technical package may allow greater adoption by women farmers than is possible now.
- The planners' perception of women and their roles has led to the introduction of aquaculture as a male activity. Consequently, extension services have ignored women's work in aquaculture.
Regarding the choice of fish species to raise in ponds, different people may use different criteria to decide. For example, whether it is a fast growing and easily marketable species, whether the fish has scales or not, how many bones it has as this can be dangerous for small children. Moreover, women's choice may be governed by the many taboos during pregnancy and the lactation period.
Aquaculture planning should be done in close collaboration with other users of the land and water resources so as to avoid conflicts. Women are often the users affected. For example, before the adoption of fish farming (especially in the case of cage culture), women may have used those water resources, for drawing drinking water, washing dishes, for laundry, or for soaking cassava. Moreover, the water level in wells may have gone down through aquaculture development. As a result, women will have to look for other sources of water.
Key questions: How does population growth and density affect resources and its users? How do demographic characteristics affect male and female labour availability in aquaculture? What is the dependency ratio for rural and urban areas?
Population growth and density will affect pressure on existing resources and the distribution of limited resources amongst existing and potential users.
In addition, population movements into and out of an area change household composition and the type of households in the area. For example, an increase in the number of female-headed households may mean this group needs special development intervention. The occurrence of female-headed households might also affect gender relationships in decision making and division of labour. However, care should be taken in assuming that female-headed households are a homogeneous group and are all resource-poor.
For aquaculture, the proportion between economically active household members and dependents as well as the ratio between adult men and women in different areas, are important indicators of the availability of labour for pond construction.
Key questions: Which areas have a relatively low nutritional and health status? What are the main problems? Who is affected? Will fish help improve the nutritional status of an area?
Improving the nutritional well-being of the population is often an important objective of aquaculture development. If the nutritional status of the rural population is generally low, and particularly if there is a shortage of animal protein, an increase in fish supply for local consumption should be considered. Women should be involved in the planning and implementation of projects aimed at improvement of health and nutritional status since they are usually primarily responsible for the nutritional welfare of the family.
Anthropometric measurements such as weight for height and weight for age are general indicators of the symptoms of malnutrition. These require to be analyzed in combination with other related socioeconomic indicators, in order to identify the causes of malnutrition. The gender-disaggregated measurement can be used, whenever available, to identify the relative well-being of men and women. During pregnancy and lactation, women need to eat well. In fish eating areas where the birth weight is low and infant mortality rate is increasing or higher than in other areas, special attention may be needed to augment fish consumption by women. Toward this end, special investigations will be required which clarify the types of fish preferred and allowed to be eaten by women and the intra-household distribution of fish.
Key questions: Can men and women own and/or inherit productive resources? Register land? Obtain water rights?
Inheritance law and property ownership rights have gender implications. For example, if women lose their fish pond upon the death of their husband because they cannot own property, they may not be encouraged to invest time and/or money in these developments.
Specific laws relating to aquaculture do not exist in most African countries. However, there are laws regarding the ownership and inheritance of land, a prerequisite for fish farming. Land laws register land titles almost exclusively in favour of men. Where women do not have secure access to or control over land, development of commercial aquaculture will have different impacts on men and women. The lack of title deeds also limits access to credit for commercial aquaculture.
However, few farmers apply for land title deeds. It is mainly commercial farmers or farmers in resettlement schemes who do. In rural areas, customary laws that determine access to land, still prevail (see also micro level).
Key questions: Do men and women enjoy equal de facto access to institutional credit? Are credit programmes and lending procedures suitable for both men and women? Are there sources of credit which are more suited to either men or women? How can banks and other financial institutions be assisted to cater better to credit requirements of men and women?
Experiences in field projects show the potential for integrating a specific credit package for women into the banks' lending policies. For example, women entrepreneurs in Kigoma, Tanzania, who received credit for fish processing activities demonstrated a high economic return on their activities. The scheme was successful because lending policies and repayment schedules were tailored to women's seasonal work schedules and earning capacities. Credit facilities were combined with the production of seedlings for planting of trees, training on energy-saving processing techniques and other community development activities.
For aquaculture, the design of credit packages is usually based on intensive systems integrated with animal husbandry. When evaluating the feasibility of these systems, the different needs and constraints of men and women should be taken into account. Chances are high that different packages need to be designed for men and women fish farmers to suit their different situation.
There are also a number of other inhibiting factors which prevent women from obtaining credit such as low literacy levels, lack of collateral, and lack of guarantee of a regular salary. As a result, although conditions may be equal for both men and women, women find it more difficult to meet these conditions.
Key questions: What are the number of persons working in the extension service, by position and by sex? Is the extension staff competent and motivated to integrate gender issues into extension work ? Are they developing and implementing extension methodologies which are gender sensitive ? Are there barriers to the entry of women in vocational training and higher education? Do the curricula of training institutions incorporate gender issues?
There are few female extension personnel at any level in most extension services. It is male personnel who are the decision makers who are able to affect programmes and policies. The few female extensionists that do exist (3% in Africa) are usually found in the junior ranks because of their lower educational level.
Education is not the only constraint to incorporating women in the extension service. It has been difficult to motivate women to take up field jobs because they might conflict with household duties.
One remedial approach is to utilize more women trainers in on-going training programmes. They can serve as an example and attract other women to the extension service. At the same time, the ongoing training programmes should be evaluated to determine their accessibility to women (e.g. whether there are structures which cater for both men and women, child care facilities, etc).
Once appointed, women should be given equal opportunities as men to carry out extension and to go on study tours, thus receiving informal on-the-job training. If female extension agents are marginalized, they will become less professionally competent than their male colleagues so that it becomes increasingly difficult for them to contribute to the extension service, and a vicious circle will operate.
Since there are usually few vacancies within extension services, the recruitment of additional female field workers is not always possible. Nor is it a guarantee that gender issues will be considered. Therefore, another and perhaps more practical approach is to utilize existing male extension agents as much as possible. Although conventional belief is that women prefer advice from female extension agents, experience in agriculture and aquaculture extension has shown that the sex of the extension agent is not necessarily a critical issue in reaching women. Good communication skills and sound technical knowledge are more important.
The training of fisheries officers and extension agents mainly concentrates on technical and biological aspects. Therefore, extension agents should be trained in extension methods which can effectively reach men and women.
Key questions: How relevant is existing research and development (R & D) to the needs of men and women involved in aquaculture? How do men and women benefit from the research results? Are there disadvantages? If so, who are affected?
The choice of culture systems and fish species for research, does have gender implications. Access to the resources required for the technology determines who can benefit from the research. On the other hand, men and women may prefer different fish species for pond culture. The choice regarding the species to use for research thus indirectly affects men and women. Consequently, if research is to benefit both men and women, it should focus on culture systems which are within the reach of women and on species which are of interest to women as well.
