The time is now: The pivotal role of women in small-scale fisheries

International Women's Day 2018

This year’s International Women’s Day, March 8, is run under the theme ‘Time is now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives’. In the wake of a sweeping global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice, International Women’s Day 2018 is an “opportunity to transform this momentum into action, to empower women in all settings, rural and urban, and celebrate the activists who are working relentlessly to claim women’s rights and realize their full potential” [1].

In addition, building upon the theme of the upcoming 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, International Women’s Day draws attention to the rights and activism of rural women, who make up over a quarter of the world population and majority of the 43 per cent of women in the global agricultural labour force [1].

Women in small-scale fisheries

Fishers and fish farmers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean account for 84 percent of the global population engaged in this sector. Of all the people directly engaged in the fisheries and aquaculture, women represent about 19 percent [2] and the percentage is higher for inland fisheries (about 50% of the workforce) [3]. These percentages are even higher when taking into consideration the secondary sector.

There is no other place in fisheries where women play more role than in the small-scale sector. Women perform different tasks along the value chain, including pre-harvesting operation, all the way up to first sale and administration. Indeed, post-harvest handling, processing and trading are often the responsibility of women. However, women’s involvement in fisheries is poorly documented and their contribution is, for the most part, not fully recognized. Due to a lack of recognition of their role and because of gender-related inequality and inequity that prevail in society, women needs are far from being addressed and are insufficiently studied.

Promoting gender equity and equality 

The recent years have been marked by an increased recognition of the multiple roles and vital contributions of women in small-scale fisheries. For instance, the 2014 Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) is the first international document recognizing women contribution in fisheries and calling for gender equity and equality. The inclusion of gender in the SSF Guidelines was a monumental step, essential for three key reasons [4]:

  • It recognizes that, globally, women and men contribute to all aspects of the small-scale fisheries value chain, often in ecologically, economically, and culturally unique ways;
  • It is critical to understanding the centrality of gender to other crosscutting issues (e.g. human rights and well-being, food security, climate change);
  • It highlights the ways gender differences in power and decision making occur within the context of small-scale fisheries and how those differences influence representative, fair, and sustainable small-scale fisheries governance.
Research on women and gender in small-scale fisheries

TBTI cluster ‘Women and Gender’ contributes to the implementation process of the SSF Guidelines by collecting examples from around the world about women equity and equality in small-scale fisheries. It does so by identifying barriers, challenges and opportunities in order to highlight the approaches that can be used to implement gender equity and equality.

Here are some of the highlights that the cluster has done to this day:

 

Highlights from around the world

Here are some of the recent activities done by other organizations and networks around the globe on the issue of women equity and equality in small-scale fisheries.

International Association for Women in the Seafood Industry 

Women in Seafood video competition 

A video competition organized in order to raise awareness on the contribution of women in the seafood industry and promote young female professionals.

Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of the Asian Fisheries Society

GAF7: Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of the Asian Fisheries Society Conference 2018

GAF conferences endeavour to explore the expanding horizons of gender dimensions in aquaculture and fisheries, while highlighting the need for  expanding gender inclusiveness and equity.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Women's participation and leadership in fisherfolk organizations and collective actions in fisheries

The paper summarizes analyses of a global literature review on women in fisherfolk organization with the aim to identify positive examples and lessons learned that have a key role in fostering increased women’s participation and leadership in collective action in fisheries.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Towards gender-equitable small-scale fisheries governance and development

A handbook in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication.

 

International Association for Women in the Seafood Industry 

Women in Seafood Industry 2017 review

An annual reports highlighting relevant news, events and research that happened in 2017 at the intersection of women/gender and the seafood industry.

 

Caribbean Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT)

 

The main objective of GIFT is to facilitate and support implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication in Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism member states.

 

References

  1. UN Women, January 26, 2018. Announcer: International Women's Day 2018. Retrieved from http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/1/announcer-iwd-2018-theme
  2. FAO (2016). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture: Contributing to food security and nutrition for all. Rome: FAO. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5555e.pdf.
  3. FAO (2012). The state of the world fisheries and aquaculture 2012. Rome: FAO. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i2727e.pdf
  4. Kleiber, D., Frangoudes, K., Snyder, H. T., Choudhury, A., Cole, S. M., Soejima, K., Porter, M. (2017). Promoting gender equity and equality through the small-scale fisheries guidelines: Experiences from multiple case studies. In S. Jentoft, R. Chuenpagdee, M. J. Barragán-Paladines & N. Franz, Eds. The small-scale fisheries guidelines. Global implementation, pp. 737–759. Springer International Publishing, Amsterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55074-9

Posted on March 7, 2018