Understanding and Addressing Gender Inequality in Small Scale Fisheries: A Caribbean Perspective Tricia Lovell Senior Fisheries Officer Antigua & Barbuda November, 2018 1
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 2
DEFINING SCOPE: Area of Focus 3
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) 4
DEFINING SCOPE: Gender. What are we talking about? 5
The Glossary of Terms on Gender Gende r: 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 or programmes, in all areas and all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s and men’s concerns and experiences an integra l 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) 6
• Because men and women often perform different tasks within fish value chains, and have different assets, skills, experience, knowledge and decision-making roles. Why Focus • Women’s roles in official fisheries on Gender? statistics are often overlooked • Women generally remain disadvantaged throughout the fish value chain, with their productive potential unrealized. Source: FAO Good Practice Policies 7
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 Barriers to Gender Women in fishing and processing • neglected through lack of training in improved fish technologies and production methods. Equality 8
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. 9
Post Fisheries Fisheries Marketing Consumers Harvest Inputs Production Processing Sale of fishing Retailers Households Fish harvest gear Factory workers Vendors Restaurants Aqua/Mariculture Vessel owners Scalers/gutters Supermarkets Redefining Gender Rules: Women in the Fisheries Value Chain 10
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 11 11
Promote actions to capture women’s lost potential in fisheries through Promote enabling policies and legislation and through investments Invest in knowledge and data systems for collecting, disseminating and Invest in analyzing more complete and reliable data, disaggregated by gender Recognize Recognize and promote the interrelationships among efficiency, gender and promote equity and women’s empowerment Good Provide labour-saving technology for domestic and fisheries work that Practices in Provide allow for the freeing up of women’s time to take advantage of opportunities in the fisheries sector Closing the Improve safety, hygiene and health taking into account gender and age Improve sensitive needs Gender Gap Strengthen Strengthen fisheries organisations and women’s roles within them. Promote Promote gender balanced role small scale fisheries management Foster innovations in communication for gender-equitable fisheries Foster development Source: FAO 2013 12
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. Responding to Under the Caribbean Common Fisheries Policy Articles 5d, 9 & 10 Gender 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 Inequalities in Small-Scale The CRFM Secretariat is developing and finalizing a policy on gender equality mainstreaming in fisheries and aquaculture Fisheries in the Caribbean The Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisation (CNFO) actively leads and supports programmes that promote gender Community mainstreaming Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) has formed GIFT (Gender in Fisheries Team) which is undertaking a gender in fisheries scoping exercise 13 13
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 14 14
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 15 15
GIFT Survey Results Chart Title 80% 76% 71% 70% 65% 58% 60% 53% 50% 50% 47% 50% 42% 40% 35% 29% 30% 24% 20% 10% 0% Equal participation in Equal access to Equal access to Equal consideration of Discrimination in Equal participation in fisherfolk organisations fisheries technical formal credit fisheries management fisheries fisheries decision- training and development making needs Agree Disagree 16 16
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 of 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. 17 17
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 References 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. 18 18
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