Fisheries: A Caribbean Perspective Tricia Lovell Senior Fisheries - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Understanding and Addressing Gender Inequality in Small Scale Fisheries: A Caribbean Perspective

Tricia Lovell Senior Fisheries Officer Antigua & Barbuda November, 2018

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Disclaimer

The work presented is not my own. It has been compiled through a review of:

• FAO Good Practice Policies to

eliminate Gender Inequalities in the Fish Value Chain &

• Gender in Fisheries Team Preliminary

Report on Caribbean Fisheries in the Context of the Small Scale Fisheries Guidelines

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DEFINING SCOPE: Area of Focus

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DEFINING SCOPE: Understanding Small Scale Fisheries.

• Small scale fisheries are diverse and dynamic
• FAO characterizes SSF as an “evolving sub-

sector of fisheries employing labour-intensive harvesting, processing and distribution technologies to exploit marine and inland water fishery resources.”

• SSF are not homogenous within and across

countries and regions

• Usually require small capital investments, use

low technology gear and vessels, and catch for subsistence and local markets. However increasing numbers of SSF have also begun shifting to export-oriented production (e.g. lobster fishery in Antigua and Barbuda)

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DEFINING SCOPE:

• Gender. What are

we talking about?

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The Glossary of Terms on Gender

Gender: Refers to socially constructed attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female; what societies define as appropriate masculinity and femininity. Gender balance: The equal and active participation of women and men in all areas of decision-making, and in access to and control over resources and services. Gender discrimination: Any exclusion or restriction made on the basis of gender roles and relations that prevents a person from enjoying full human rights. Gender equality: Men and women enjoy equal rights, opportunities and entitlements in civil and political life Gender mainstreaming: The process of assessing and addressing the implications for men and women of any planned action, including legislation, policies

• r programmes, in all areas and all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s and men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design,

implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. (Source: GIFT 2018)

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Why Focus

• n Gender?
• Because men and women often

perform different tasks within fish value chains, and have different assets, skills, experience, knowledge and decision-making roles.

• Women’s roles in official fisheries

statistics are often overlooked

• Women generally remain

disadvantaged throughout the fish value chain, with their productive potential unrealized.

Source: FAO Good Practice Policies

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Barriers to Gender Equality

• Worldwide ownership and access

rights to land, ponds and other fisheries related assets are heavily skewed against women.

• Women face other gender

inequalities in areas such as education and training, access to independent credit, and bargaining power in trade associations and the workplace.

• Policy biases favour male interests,

such as focusing on (male- dominated) production at the expense of (female-dominated) fish processing and marketing

• Women in fishing and processing

neglected through lack of training in improved fish technologies and production methods.

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Traditional Role of Women in Small-scale Fisheries

• In small-scale capture fisheries, men

and boys typically specialize in harvesting fish, while women and girls predominate in traditional processing for human consumption and marketing.

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Redefining Gender Rules: Women in the Fisheries Value Chain

Households Restaurants Supermarkets Retailers Vendors Factory workers Scalers/gutters Fish harvest Aqua/Mariculture Sale of fishing gear Vessel owners

Fisheries Inputs Fisheries Production Post Harvest Processing Marketing Consumers

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Responding to Gender Inequalities in Small Scale Fisheries Globally

• The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale

Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) are the first internationally negotiated document dedicated specifically to the small-scale fisheries sector that also recognise women’s contributions in fisheries, calling for gender equity and equality.

• Too Big to Ignore Cluster on Women and Gender contributes to

implementation of the SSF Guidelines by highlighting global examples of women equity and equality in fisheries at a global scale

• International Association for Women in the Seafood Industry has

produced a video competition of women in the seafood industry

• FAO has produced a handbook in support of the SSF Guidelines

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Good Practices in Closing the Gender Gap

Promote actions to capture women’s lost potential in fisheries through enabling policies and legislation and through investments

Promote

Invest in knowledge and data systems for collecting, disseminating and analyzing more complete and reliable data, disaggregated by gender

Invest in

Recognize and promote the interrelationships among efficiency, gender equity and women’s empowerment

Recognize and promote

Provide labour-saving technology for domestic and fisheries work that allow for the freeing up of women’s time to take advantage of

• pportunities in the fisheries sector

Provide

Improve safety, hygiene and health taking into account gender and age sensitive needs

Improve

Strengthen fisheries organisations and women’s roles within them.

Strengthen

Promote gender balanced role small scale fisheries management

Promote

Foster innovations in communication for gender-equitable fisheries development

Foster

Source: FAO 2013

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Responding to Gender Inequalities in Small-Scale Fisheries in the Caribbean Community

The Member states of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) are taking direct steps to respond to the existing gender inequalities in small scale fisheries of the region. Under the Caribbean Common Fisheries Policy Articles 5d, 9 & 10 address issues of human rights that can be linked to gender (i.e equitable allocation of rights, equal participation and protecting the rights of traditional, subsistence and small-scale fisheries The CRFM Secretariat is developing and finalizing a policy on gender equality mainstreaming in fisheries and aquaculture Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) has formed GIFT (Gender in Fisheries Team) which is undertaking a gender in fisheries scoping exercise The Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisation (CNFO) actively leads and supports programmes that promote gender mainstreaming

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Evaluating Caribbean Fisherfolk Perspectives on Gender Equality in Small Scale Fisheries: Work of the Gender in Fisheries Team [GIFT]

• UWI-CERMES has undertaken interdisciplinary

research to better understand and assist with policy and practice concerning gender in Caribbean small-scale fisheries

• Purpose of the study was to conduct a rough

and rapid scoping of perspectives of mainly CNFO fisherfolk leaders on content of the Gender section (No. 8) of the SSF Guidelines in their CRFM countries and fisheries

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Parameters Measured Under the GIFT Initiative

• Fisheries management and

development needs met

• Discrimination in fisheries
• Participation in fisheries decision-

making

• Participation in fisherfolk organisations
• Access to capacity development
• Access to formal credit

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GIFT Survey Results

50% 76% 71% 35% 42% 47% 50% 24% 29% 65% 58% 53% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Equal participation in fisherfolk organisations Equal access to fisheries technical training Equal access to formal credit Equal consideration of fisheries management and development needs Discrimination in fisheries Equal participation in fisheries decision- making

Chart Title

Agree Disagree

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Final Conclusions

• In small scale fisheries of the Caribbean the

role of women in fisheries continues to be

• understated. To mainstream gender issues

into small scale fisheries development it is necessary to accurately represent the role

• f all contributors to the sector including
• women. The ongoing work of GIFT and the

CRFM along with the global process through the FAO and other agencies can bring us closer to closing the gender gap in small-scale fisheries once and for all.

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References

To Learn More Consult the following references”

• CERMES. June 2017. Policy Perspectives: Perspectives on

resource management and environmental policy from the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.

• Biswas, Nilajana. 2017. 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. FAO. Rome
• FAO. 2013. Good Practice Policies to Eliminate Gender

Inequalities in Fish Value Chains. FAO. Rome

• GIFT. 2018. Gender Scoping Preliminary Report:

Caribbean Fisheries in the Context of the Small-scale fisheries guidelines. Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT), Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. CERMES Technical Report No. 86:60pp.

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Thank You