2. Guidelines on gender information for sectoral planning and project formulation: macro-level
Development policies and programmes/projects for fisheries/aquaculture on gender issues
Health and nutrition characteristics
Although the need for socio-economic information for inland fisheries 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 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 fisheries 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 of fisheries 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 inland fisheries? 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 inland fisheries 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.
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 arc administered by other ministries (Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare etc.) with which fisheries staff rarely have contact. Consequently, fisheries 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: Who and how many men and women are engaged in the fisheries sub-sectors (harvesting, processing, marketing, ancillary activities)? How do men and women benefit from these activities? What changes in the sector are likely to affect men and women, and in what way?
The resource base in capture fisheries is not visible and therefore difficult to quantify. In addition, there are complex variables affecting fish stocks: mobility, seasonality, water quality, currents, weather changes, downstream impact of farming, tourism, industry etc. Thus fisheries activities often involve risks and uncertainties which are beyond the control of those directly involved in the sector.
The fishery system is a dynamic system. It is composed of the catching, processing, marketing and ancillary sub-sectors which inter-relate with each other. It includes men and women engaged in catching, processing, marketing and supporting activities (e.g. catering food and services for fishermen and traders, boat builders, gear suppliers). The motivations and aspirations, knowledge and experiences of these people may differ by age, gender, ethnicity, religion and marital status.
Changes in the inter-relationships between catching, processing, marketing and ancillary subsectors inevitably produce a gender impact. This should be taken into account when management strategic.% or development plans are formulated. Motorization of fishing vessels can increase the quantity of fish caught; large-scale processors, often men, are likely to benefit more from the higher catches since they have access to larger amounts of working capital, and enjoy economics of scale. Changes in species composition and sizes of fish may benefit or disadvantage certain types of processors and traders. Alternatively, the number of small-scale processors might increase, depending on the structure of the catching and processing sub-sectors. The introduction of selective fishing gears may reduce the landings of smaller-sized fish which arc preferred by small-scale women processors and small-scale women traders.
1 Institutions include governments, research, training and educational institutions, universities and NGOs.
Key questions: How does population growth and density affect resources and its users? How do demographic characteristics affect male and female labour availability in fisheries? 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.
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 fisheries 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. 'Me 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 intrahousehold distribution of fish.
Key questions: Can men and women own AND/OR inherit productive resources?
Inheritance law and property ownership rights have gender implications. For example, if women lose their smoking kiln 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.
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?
Fisheries credit institutions often finance the introduction of new technologies, such as outboard engines, boats and gears. Institutional loans are seldom available for processors and traders or for the introduction of improved processing equipment. Banker-, are rarely convinced by either the needs or the creditworthiness of women in fisheries.
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.
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 is 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 "men 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 and arc in a position 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 their 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 arc 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.
In some countries, fishery extension focuses primarily on enforcing fisheries regulations and collecting taxes and levies from processors and traders. In other countries, fisheries officers concentrate on the collecting of catch and landing statistics. Thus in many cases extensionists play dual and contradictory roles as both controllers and advisors. This has led to a negligence of the advisory functions of the extension staff and the overlooking of socio-economic inter-relationships between production chains.
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 in inland fisheries? How do men and women benefit from the research results? Are there disadvantages? If so, who are affected?
Fisheries research has tended to concentrate on biology (the resource base) and technology (harvesting and processing, for example). More attention must be paid to ensuring that new innovations arc useful to both men and women. Experiences show that when attention is given to the specific needs of men and women, the introduction of improved technology becomes more effective. For example, when the Ivory Coast fish smoking kiln was introduced in Malawi, the design was modified to enable easy reconstruction so that women processors could move their processing sites to accompany fishermen. This made the technology feasible for women fish processors and adoption was therefore easier.
