PROCEEDINGS OF THE WORKSHOP ON ENHANCED WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

The workshop on Enhanced Women's Participation in Fisheries Development was jointly organized by ALCOM and Fisheries Policy and Planning Division, Fisheries Department, FAO, with support from the Fisheries Department Core Group on Women and contributions from fisheries and aquaculture projects in Africa and Asia. FAO headquarters and field staff, counterparts and invited experts participated. The list of participants and programme are presented in Appendices 1 and 2.

The objectives of the workshop were:

1. to discuss and exchange experiences among FAO staff, counterpart Government Officers and selected experts concerning current practices and social and economic issues with respect to the integration of women in fisheries;

2. to enhance awareness and sensitivity to gender issues through brainstorming and cross fertilizing experiences on the utility and relevance of various operational strategies;

3. to develop/recommend operational strategies of fisheries development planning and recommend measures for the implementation for effective integration of gender issues.

Specific tasks of the workshop were:

1. To review experiences of selected FAO field projects in which gender issues are directly or indirectly addressed and to assess the impact of the project strategies/activities on the involvement of women;

2. To evaluate relevance of the strategy of projects incorporating women specific activities in the fields of fisheries development and management;

3. To prepare recommendations for operational strategies for the integration of gender issues into fisheries development and management of FAO field projects and also FAO headquarters and regular programme.

FAO executed projects were invited to prepare position papers on their approaches to gender issues. The seven position papers received were used together with other project documentation to prepare a Synthesis Paper (commissioned by the Fisheries Policy and Planning Division), see Appendix 3.

Projects were also invited to prepare case studies on gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture development to be presented to the workshop. The 13 case studies are summarized in Appendix 4.

2. OPENING

Mr. Jean Louis Gaudet, Senior Planning Officer, Fisheries Policy and Planning Division, FAO, welcomed the participants on behalf of Dr. Edouard Saouma, Director General, and Dr. Armin Lindquist, Assistant Director General of FAO. He outlined how gender awareness had developed within FAO and specifically the Fisheries Department. The institutional framework to address gender issues consisted of Governments, Donors and FAO regular and field programmes, including FAOs Regional Fisheries Bodies, Regional Offices, global, regional, and national FAO executed fisheries and aquaculture projects. This is described in more detail in Appendix 5.

Mr. Gaudet stated that although efforts had been made to integrate gender issues in FAOs work, strategies and methods how to do so were still lacking. He wished the participants fruitful discussions and an outcome of the workshop which would improve the integration of gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture development in the future.

Mr. Samuel Chimbuya, Chief Ecologist (Aquatic), Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, welcomed the participants on behalf of the hosting Government. He stressed the importance given to gender issues by the Government of Zimbabwe since independence, through its institutional set up, policies and legislation. In declaring the workshop open, he looked forward to the outcome of the workshop, which would improve the performance of projects and wished the participants a memorable week in the beautiful surroundings of the Victoria Falls.

3. CURRENT STATUS IN THE INTEGRATION OF GENDER ISSUES IN FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT

The Synthesis Paper on the Integration of Gender Issues in Fisheries Development (Appendix 3) was presented. An overview of changes in the concept of Women in Development was given, stating the current approach was to address gender issues rather than isolating women. Four types of fisheries and aquaculture projects were reviewed: projects designed exclusively for women; projects with a women's component; projects with an implicit women's component; and projects which during implementation were reformulated to include a women's component.

The conclusions and recommendations of the synthesis paper address information needs, monitoring and evaluation of projects, the role of FAO and national sectoral policies and institutions, project approaches (participatory, sub-sectoral), the concept of a ‘homogenous woman’, staffing needs and, differences between fisheries and aquaculture.

4.CASE STUDIES ON WOMEN IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE

Four case studies on aquaculture and 9 case studies on fisheries were presented. Summaries are given in Appendix 4.

4.1. Aquaculture case studies - summary of discussion

It was concluded that constraints for women's participation in aquaculture development in terms of access to and control over resources such as land, labour and time, labour markets, capital, and equipment were also, although to a lesser extent, experienced by male fish farmers. Women often had less access to knowledge since extension officers mainly address the male head of house-holds. The transfer of knowledge within the household was regarded as almost non-existent.

Access to and control over benefits from aquaculture were looked upon in the light of women's contribution to fish farming. Often decisions on the use of fish for home consumption, fish to share with relatives and the utilization of cash from sale of fish were jointly taken by men and women in the household.

The target group ‘women’ tends to be treated as a broad category in project design, without differentiating between different groups of women, each with their specific needs.

In most countries men are the owners of fish ponds. Fish farming, especially pond construction is regarded as man's work. The case studies discussed problems encountered by women when wishing to become owners themselves. The question of the importance of ownership was probed in relation to improvements in women's access to benefits from fish farming.

4.2. Fisheries case studies - summary of discussion

Based on the case study material, it was concluded that the main strategic gender needs of women in fishing communities were empowerment, crisis management, improved decision-making, leadership and management skills. Practical gender needs were access to credit, income generation, improved processing techniques, and, since fishing communities are often isolated, community facilities such as health and educational services. However, these two types of needs are not common to all women, and it was unclear as to how projects assessed the needs.

Groups have been used as a strategy used to enhance the role of women in fisheries. However, poor cohesion due to lack of consensus on key issues, socio-economic differences, externally identified needs and structures as well as external factors (e.g. migration) have meant that their success rate has been poor.

Another strategy used has been training in business and management skills. The constraints identified for this strategy have been low and different literacy levels as well as the long time required to achieve success.

The appointment of staff with appropriate skills in assessing the needs of women and developing ways to reach their needs has had a positive impact on the enhancement of women's participation in development activities.

The constraint to this strategy has been the availability of trained staff.

Some projects have not used any strategy to enhance the role of women, but have succeeded in doing so by developing activities that have attracted women.

The question which remained unanswered from the case studies and the discussion concerned the sustainability of the activities and how they have satisfied practical and strategic gender needs.

5. WORKING GROUPS ON AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES

Four Working Groups (2 for aquaculture and 2 for fisheries) discussed fictitious situations. The working group guidelines are given in Appendix 6. The ‘descriptions’ included objectives, socio-economic information on the population, production, gender division of tasks etc. The Working groups were given the following topics for discussion and reporting:

1. Identify the different target groups. What criteria were used to distinguish the target groups? Why?

2. What are the needs of the different target groups?

3. Carry out a constraints analysis from a gender perspective.

4. What additional information would be needed to address gender issues in the projects?

5. What are the opportunities for the women and/or the project to solve the constraints?

6. Formulate strategies to ensure the reinforcement of women's participation in the project.

Aquaculture Working Group 1 Report:

The Working Group identified the following target groups:

1. Permanent female headed households and unmarried mothers (DFHH)

2. de facto female headed households (DFHH)

3. Women in male headed small scale farmers households without fish ponds (MHH W/FF)

4. Women in male headed households with fish ponds (MHHwFF)

Besides the direct target groups, the Working Group identified other ‘participants’: extension officers, other organizations, other community members, and village leaders. The main criteria for choosing the target groups were: sex (women) and access to factors of production.

The Working group carried out a constraints analysis (see table 1).

Table l : Constraint analysis (- is a constraint)

Besides constraints identified in the table the following were considered important: male obstruction, existing value systems/ norms and the low level of education and literacy.

The Group concluded that additional information was needed on:

-   women's access to land suitable for fish farming (population pressure, changes in value of land, other land based economic activities, and mechanisms of land allocation) ;

-   labour availability (demographic data, household composition, labour market, opportunity costs, practice of reciprocity and mobilization of labour);

-   access to capital (remittances from migrated husbands, existing traditional credit systems, seasonality of capital needs, household income, and other income earning activities);

-   access to inputs (agriculture by-products and seasonality in their availability);

-   access to equipment (who owns the equipment, prices);

-   marketing (transport, demand/supply, prices);

-   information/knowledge (level of education, extension officers trained in gender issues);

-   values/norms (attitudes towards female fish farmers, taboos).

Additional income, fish for food, decision making power, control over benefits and alleviation of the identified constraints were the main needs identified.

The Group stated the following strategy components:

1. Group organization among women as a support system to strengthen bargaining power to obtain land;

2. Common funds among women to hire labour and organized reciprocal labour supply;

3. An organized extension system supported by the project for timely supply of fingerlings, for dissemination of knowledge on available crop residues, and an extension message focusing on self-reliance among women;

4. Training of extension workers in gender issues, modified extension material giving the image of women farmers;

5. Introduction of project ideas through village leaders to facilitate cooperation among villagers and training of key male and female fish farmers.

Aquaculture working Group 2 Report:

The target group was defined as ‘small scale farmers’ with five sub-groups:

-   small scale female headed households (F/Food)

-   small scale male headed households (M/Food)

-   semi commercial female farmers (F/Revenue)

-   semi commercial male farmers (F/Revenue)

-   school leavers (Youth)

The criteria chosen for the identification of target groups were sex of head of household and production objective.

The groups's constraints analysis is summarized in table 2.

Table 2 : Constraints analysis ( - means constraint)

The Working Group felt that the information provided in the ‘project document’ (guidelines for the working group) needed to be complemented with:

-   data on pressure on land as a resource

-   data on water supply

-   data on-farm byproducts

-   labour division within the households, including the extended family

-   information on formal and informal credit facilities

-   information on the situation of the youth

-   socio-cultural profile of the community

-   information on other development projects' priorities and national development policies

The group concluded that problems/constraints identified were common for both men and women in rural areas, although some are more acute for women. Some constraints are also women specific such as access to knowledge and access to formal credit.

The group found that access to land was a problem beyond the scope of the project.

Time constraints for women could partly be overcome by introduction of new technologies for domestic activities, such as water pumps, and planting of trees for firewood close to the village.

Credit facilities should be included in the project to cope with women's access to capital. Access to equipment was also a problem which should be addressed by the project, by providing basic equipment for households starting fish farming.

Extension needs should be addressed by the project taking women's literacy level into account, and by using female fish farmers as examples for others and by promoting women's associations.

As a point of departure for the formulation of elements of strategies the Group stated that:

-   approaches need to be revised taking into account that the end-user, often described as the small scale farmer, is not a homogenous group, and;

-   projects need flexibility during implementation to be able to adapt to varying farmers conditions and to allow greater farmer participation.

The following elements for strategies were formulated:

-   creation of gender awareness among policy makers, fisheries staff, FAO headquarters and field staff rather than establishing women specialists;

-   increase end-user participation in project formulation and implementation, implying a slower, sensitive, evolutive process and more long term perspectives among Governments and Donors;

-   project design to encourage flexibility to meet the needs of sub-target groups requirements, which for women would include the promotion of, and contacts with, organized/ informal groups, reliable technical packages suitable for a variety of situations, and improved delivery of extension messages through women to women contacts where norms make male to female contacts difficult, the use of existing channels for communication, communication media accessible for women, credit conditions not excluding women and training of extension staff in gender issues.

Fisheries Working Group 1 Report:

The Working Group described the fish production, processing and marketing system (see diagram) to identify the target groups.

FISHERIES WORKING GROUP 1: FISHERIES PRODUCTION, PROCESSING AND MARKETING SYSTEM

The potential target groups and their constraints were:

Based on the above analysis the group choose the small scale processors as the target group for a potential project, since this group suffered from most of the problems in the community.

The main need of the chosen target group was increased earnings among women fish processors through:

-   access to capital for purchase of fish, for financing fish processing activities and improved techniques, and for financing fishing operations;

-   improved knowledge, skills and technology in fish processing to reduce wastage, to improve quality, to increase quantity, reduce health hazards, reduce labour time and fuel consumption.

The group felt that the potential project could intervene to solve the following constraints:

-   lack of capital for small scale fish processors through strengthening existing savings associations; assistance to link savings associations with credit institutions, alternatively provision of credit by the project;

-   investigations of the feasibility of different forms of groups for small scale female fish processors;

-   demonstration of improved fish processing techniques;

-   investigations and trials for solving the fuel problem.

To adequately design the project, the Group felt there was need for additional information on:

-   demography and socio-economics

-   fisheries resources

-   labour organization in fish processing (time requirements and groups)

-   costs and earnings with different techniques

-   marketing infrastructure and channels

-   data for monitoring and evaluation (nutritional data, household economics etc)

-   data to monitor changes in gender-related responsibilities in household budget due to increased earnings

The group considered the following elements of strategies:

-   identification of women as a specific target group

-   identification of working techniques which are sustainable and appropriate for women (for example credit mechanisms)

-   increase gender awareness among project staff

-   formulation of objectives for the project based on the real needs of the target group

Fisheries working Group 2 Report:

The group selected three target groups:

-   households of small boat owners

-   small scale fish processors/traders (all women)

-   non-fishing poor households, including female headed households without access to fish for processing or marketing

The criteria used was based upon ownership and income level which determines opportunity for improvement in economic status and self reliance. In the potential project area, some of the most disadvantaged were linked by gender to groups affected by recent development in the area. Gender in itself was not a criteria used for selection of the target groups.

The small scale processors/traders were regarded as the primary target group. Their displacement by large scale traders destroys a system of short term credit based on trust and cooperation. The apparent take over by large scale traders will cause problems for the small scale processors/traders but also result in that value added earlier retained in the village will be realized outside.

The group identified constraints facing the target groups:

1. Households of small boat owners. Constraints from the perspective of male members of these households are lack of credit worthiness, lack of gear and inability to buy new gear, restricted fishing range, and competition with large boat operators for sale of fish. The female members of the households face low incomes from catching/processing of fish, lack of capital and credit to become purchasers/ processors, and too low household income to cover family requirements.

2. Small scale processors/traders (all women). The constraints are lack of capital to extend credits to fishermen, for purchase of fish, and for processing of fish, inability to compete with the larger scale fish traders, shortage of firewood and the increasing time needed to collect wood for smoking fish, inefficiency in current smoking methods, and decreasing income resulting from being displaced by large scale fish traders and forced into wage labour as a fish processor.

3. Non-fishing households, including female headed households lack capital to gain access to income generating activities related to the fishing industry.

The group felt that the potential project could assist in overcoming constraints by:

-   a socio-economic survey to clarify inter-relations between the different groups and to identify specific needs and means to meet them;

-   establishing a credit system(s) for the target groups;

-   improving fish processing methods;

-   a community action programme amongst the small scale processors to enable them to compete with the large scale operators from outside the community;

-   examining means to improve efficiency and reduce capital and running costs in the various fisheries, and;

-   examining systems for forest management (for fuel supply and prevention of soil erosion).

It concluded that there was a need for additional information:

-   breakdown of numbers of males and females in each household type and economic activity group

-   number of external traders and changes over time

-   amounts and value of fish sold within the village, in local markets and transported out (including seasonal and annual variations)

-   processing, including types of smokers, numbers, waste, wood consumed, and shelf life of the product

-   fuel wood resources

-   income differences and average incomes of each target group

-   migration

-   income generation opportunities from non-fishing activities

-   cost and earnings from fishing and non-fishing activities

-   replacement costs and life expectancy of fishing boats, gear, and processing equipment

-   seasonal variation and trends in demands for processed fish in local and other markets

-   village infrastructure and services

-   sources of supply of gear, boat building material, engines etc

-   repair and service facilities for boats and engines

-   literacy levels in the community

The group identified the following strategy components to ensure that gender issues are addressed:

-   socio-economic study to clarify the economic conditions of the target groups with emphasis on gender related issues;

-   the selection of target groups should be based on criteria as lack of opportunity rather than gender, but special needs of gender linked groups should be identified;

-   community workers should be used for the mobilization of target groups. Consideration should be given to the need for appointing community workers of the appropriate gender;

-   promotion of organization of gender linked target groups;

-   revolving funds to be managed by the groups;

-   use of outside resource persons for improvement of fish production and processing;

-   training of the target groups.

6. CONCLUSIONS

In two plenary sessions (the first initiated with a panel discussion) the synthesis paper, the case studies and the outcome of the working groups were used to formulate conclusions and recommendations. The institutional framework consisting of the target communities, national, regional and global projects, FAO with its Regional Fishery Bodies and Regional Offices, Donors and Governments was used to systematise the conclusions and recommendations.

The workshop concluded:

1. Gender issues

Gender issues should be integrated into the overall development process and not considered in isolation. However, special needs associated with gender have to be addressed to ensure success of projects.

2. Community participation/people's participation

Projects are likely to fail without community participation. The identification of needs, selection of target groups, project activities and evaluation have earlier mainly been undertaken by outsiders.

3. Target Groups

Target group selection and identification of their needs have been too broad and often do not reflect or relate to women's needs.

4. Constraints to the participation of women

Access to and control over resources, knowledge, technology, information as well as socio-cultural factors were considered constraints for the enhancement of, or entry into fisheries and aquaculture development by women. However, these constraints are not exclusive to women.

5. Beneficiaries

Women's contribution to the development process may be more than the benefits they gain.

6. Conflicts and negative impacts

Activities which change the social relations between men and women within a community can also lead to conflict and a possible worsening of the situation of some members of the community.

7. Information needs

The importance of obtaining key socio-economic baseline information, including gender disaggregated data, was considered essential for the successful design, monitoring and evaluation of projects. This information was also important in serving as a feedback mechanism to governments, institutions, donors and FAO to assist in the formulation of new projects and technical back stopping. The potential of feed-back and exchange of information had not been fully utilized in the past.

8. Men and household welfare

Men should be included in community development such as nutrition and health extension. Failure to do so will alienate men and lead to unsuccessful implementation.

9. Groups

Establishment of groups have been, and is used as a strategy to involve women in the development process. The workshop concluded that the formation, organization and structure of groups were key elements in the success of the strategy.

10. Credit

Availability of and access to credit was considered a major constraint in fishing communities for the expansion of fisheries related activities.

For aquaculture, credit and/or provision of equipment had been used indiscriminately without ensuring profitability and viability of the activities.

11. Extension material

Gender sensitive extension material may assist successful dissemination of information. There was also a need to pay more attention to the low education and literacy levels among target groups when preparing extension material.

12. staff

Project and government counterpart staff are often not sensitized to gender issues. The hiring of female staff to deal with women's issues depends on the level of gender neutrality of the target population. Communication skills were regarded as the most important attribute for extension staff.

13. Community based expertise

The establishment of community based expertise was an essential requirement to the long-term sustainability of project activities.

14. Project flexibility

A flexible approach is essential to allow people's participation and adaption to changing socio-economic conditions.

15. Backstopping

Backstopping by FAO for gender-related issues and socio-economics in fisheries and aquaculture was inadequate.

16. Long-term commitments

There was often a lack of long-term commitments on behalf of Governments and donors to allow ‘after project activities’

7. RECOMMENDED STRATEGY COMPONENTS

Based on the conclusions, the workshop elaborated on elements of strategies. The point of departure was that strategies to enhance the role of women should be sustainable both in economic and socio-cultural terms. The project cycle and its actors were used as the framework for the strategies.

1. Project design

-   formulation missions should be briefed on gender issues;

-   communities should identify their own needs;

-   target groups should be selected in discussions with communities;

-   opportunities and constraints should be identified;

-   project time frame should be flexible;

-   project targets should be flexible and take into account results of the preparatory phase;

-   long term support should be committed at an early stage

-   project design should incorporate information/findings/results of previous projects;

-   separate budgets should be allocated to gender issues.

2. Project implementation

Preparatory phase

-   collection of socio-economic information including gender disaggregated data;

-   development of project objectives and strategies in consultation with communities;

-   feasibility of activities tested should be determined.

Implementation phase

-   people's participation should be an essential continuous process;

-   project and extension staff should be gender sensitized and equipped with skills to use gender oriented extension methods effectively;

-   community level expertise should be strengthened;

-   linkages between other development agencies should be established;

-   community development activities should involve both men and women;

-   backstopping of project staff by FAO in socio-economic aspects of development is essential.

3. Monitoring and evaluation

-   information collected regularly to monitor positive and negative impacts;

-   success criteria should be redefined;

-   impact on gender should be considered as a separate issue during evaluations.

4. Governments

-   training of Government staff on gender issues. Experiences and results from earlier field projects should form the base for the training;

-   development efforts should be decentralized to allow effective people's participation;

-   socio-economic aspects, including gender issues, should be addressed in sector reviews and planning;

-   linkages should be established between different Government ministries and departments, institutions and international/national development agencies to facilitate coordination of efforts.

5. FAO

-   special budget allocations should be made for socio-economic aspects, including gender, to assist project preparations;

-   gender-related socio-economic information should be consolidated and used for project identification/ formulation, monitoring and evaluation. There should be an exchange of information on experiences from design and approaches;

-   technical backstopping on gender issues should be systematized. Regular project reporting should include gender aspects;

-   training of staff and consultants in gender issues;

-   strengthening of inter-departmental contacts and coordination;

-   promotion of global and regional programmes to support member countries in establishing data base which will assist in identification and formulation of national projects and to facilitate exchange of information between countries, programmes/projects, FAO and donors.

6. Donors

-   funding policies should consider assistance to a preparatory phase of all projects, long-term funding for the implementation phase, and low level long-term funding for follow-up, to ensure sustainability;

-   criteria for monitoring and evaluation should include qualitative as well as quantitative factors, since community development impacts often are intangible in the short term.

8. IMMEDIATE ACTION

The workshop realized that application of effective strategies for gender issues is an aim which will take time to realize and depend on practical tests and dissemination of information of results, and training of project and Government staff. However, there were a number of activities the workshop recommended should be initiated immediately to facilitate the process:

1. FAO Fisheries Department

-   preparation of briefing kits on gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture for staff and consultants;

-   preparation of training material for FAO staff and Government counterparts;

-   elaboration of criteria for monitoring and evaluation of projects with regard to gender issues;

-   effective dissemination of the report of the workshop.

2. FAO Regional Offices

-   investigation and dissemination of available information/data on gender issues;

-   preparation of a directory on training institutions with potential to deal with gender issues and dissemination of the directory to all projects in each region;

-   effective dissemination of the report of the workshop.

3. Global/regional programmes

-   organization of inter-project meetings to elaborate on gender issues and exchange experiences;

-   case studies on the integration of women to be undertaken, experiences and results to be widely disseminated;

-   dissemination of information on gender issues within regions;

-   effective dissemination of the report from the workshop.

PROGRAMME

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome 1990

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper was commissioned as part of the preparation for the Regional Workshop on Enhanced Women's Participation in Fisheries Development to be held in Zimbabwe during 4–7 December 1990.

In the first section, the paper presents a brief overview of general changes in development policy approaches to Women in Development (WID), developments in FAO headquarters policy on WID, and Fisheries Department policy and activities on WID issues. The next section of the paper reviews selected fisheries and aquaculture field projects largely using material from project position papers submitted for the Workshop. Finally, the paper discusses the policy implications of this experience and makes recommendations for further discussion.

Changes in development policy approaches towards WID have reflected changes in general development thought since the 1950's. Before the 1970's, project approaches towards WID had been welfare-oriented and policies tended to focus on socially ‘vulnerable’ groups, which included low-income and rural women. WID only emerged as a specific policy approach in the early 1970's, following recognition of the important role women play in agricultural production in developing countries. The first WID approach, concentrated on achieving equality between men and women across and between socio-economic groups because, it was argued, that current development processes were increasing inequality between the sexes. This proved politically unpopular as well as difficult to put into practice. The next WID approach reflected the change in development policy, prevalent in the late 1970's, from modernization to redistribution with growth and the implementation of basic needs strategies. This approach focussed on the alleviation of poverty through methods to increase productivity of women in low income households and increase employment and income-generating options through better access to productive resources.

With the worsening economic situation of developing countries in the 1980's, and the subsequent International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank economic stabilization and adjustment policies, the WID approach shifted towards attempts to improve and increase women's contribution to economic growth and development and in order to achieve goals of equity. Concern has been expressed that such an approach depends on women increasing their time spent on such activities at the expense of their other activities such as child rearing.

The most recent WID approach has been to develop greater empowerment of women at the grass roots level, with an emphasis on women's self-reliance.

There has been another, more recent change in development thought on WID as a result greater knowledge and understanding about the socio-economic dynamics of communities. This had led to the view, prevalent in academic circles for a long time, that the problems of women and men should be perceived in terms of socially and culturally defined roles distinguishing men from women and not simply as a biological difference, i.e. gender. These differences primarily relate to the household division of labour access to and control over production resources and assets, which condition women's and men's stakes and incentives in development or project activities.

FAO headquarters policy on WID has developed since the 1970's, especially after the 1979 World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Development (WCAARD). This conference was a major turning point in the recognition of women's role in agriculture production. By 1988, a Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development was submitted to the 94th Session of the FAO Council. The Plan has objectives to ensure that women are accorded equal rights and opportunities, their potential contribution is put to good use by their societies through the augmentation of the information base on women in agricultural development and that policies and adequate programmes are formulated and promoted. Priority is given to training FAO staff in integrating gender concerns in FAO activities and strengthening technical divisions in order to incorporate WID concerns in their programme of work.

FAO Fisheries Department policy on WID issues was clearly stated at the 1984 World Conference on Fisheries. Recognition of the role of women in fisheries development,particularly in small scale fisheries and rural aquaculture, was incorporated into the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development endorsed by the Conference. The Conference also recommended that fisheries development programmes should further enhance this role.

Since the Conference, Department policy has been coordinated and developed by the Core Group on Women in Fisheries, made up of representatives from all the different services. The Group's tasks are to review ongoing and pipeline projects to determine the possibility of including women in project activities, identify any negative impact on women's economic activities of development initiatives, organize or promote workshops, identify new pilot activities and sensitize counterpart experts and decision makers in recipient countries on gender issues.

In practice, the group's activities have been limited because it has no allocated funds for activities, and therefore has to rely on securing funds from the different divisions on an ad hoc basis. To date, the Group has commissioned studies on women in fisheries, a bibliography on women in fisheries, a set of guidelines ‘Women in Fishing Communities’ and produced some audio-visual material.

Fisheries Department policy has also been influenced by the demands of donors to include WID or gender concerns in project activities, especially from donors such as the United Nations Population Fund who see development activities closely associated with population concerns and the involvement of women.

Despite the efforts of the Core Group and individuals within the department, there appears to be no consensus within the Department on objectives or strategies to incorporate women or gender issues into fisheries development projects. This has led to unsystematic ad hoc measures being implemented and in some cases, the marginalisation of gender issues in project activities;

The experiences of fifteen FAO field projects in gender-related activities are reviewed. Projects were classified according to their objectives concerning the involvement of women. Three projects were concerned with aquaculture development and, with the exception of two projects, all were in sub-Sahara Africa. The classification was as follows:

1. Projects which were designed exclusively for women;

2. Projects which have a women's component;

3. Projects which have an implicit women's component;i.e. projects which had not specifically targeted women but because project activities were in sectors dominated by women, they were included.

4. Projects which have been reformulated to include a women's component at a later stage.

The review showed that the strategies employed to integrate women in the development process cut across these classifications. Two approaches were identified. The first approach, adopted and adapted by the Integrated Development of Artisanal Fisheries (IDAF) in West Africa and by the Bay of Bengal Programme in Asia is that the integration of gender concerns and the enhancement of women within fisheries development should not be treated as a separate component, but should be part of a community-participatory approach involving the whole community. The second approach, adopted by an artisanal fisheries development project in Cap Verde and an aquaculture project in Kenya is to focus some project activities on fisheries sub-sectors where women are involved or in the case of Kenya, to give access to extension services to all fish farmers, men, women and youth.

It was also found that projects which employed appropriate and skilled staff were better able to address the special needs of women.

The paper concludes by highlighting the eight main issues which have emerged from the review and suggesting recommendations, based on these issues, for further discussion. In brief, the main issues which have emerged are, the importance of basic socio-economic data for project design, monitoring and evaluation; the institutional weakness within FAO with regard to defining and implementing strategies on gender concerns; the lack of recognition of the importance of gender concerns at the national fisheries sectoral level; the selection of appropriate strategies (integrated or sub-sectoral approach); the quality and relevance of employing appropriate staff and the importance of differentiating between fisheries and aquaculture. Based on this, the following recommendations, intended for further discussion were made:

1. Socio-economic information including gender-related issues must be available before projects can be planned and implemented effectively to incorporate gender concerns.

2. National sectoral policies and reviews should, where appropriate, consider the contribution of women in the sector, and acknowledge their role in helping to achieve sectoral objectives.

3. FAO Fisheries Department has to improve it's capabilities in incorporating gender concerns into activities at both the regular and field programme level. This should include staff training, allocation of specific funds and greater cooperation and exchange of experiences between the various divisions within headquarters on strategies developed on the integration of gender concerns.

4. Strategies to incorporate gender concerns at the project identification and formulation stages must be developed so that they can be implemented in a practical way.

5. Project documents and annual workplans should have clear objectives and strategies concerning the integration of gender concerns in their activities.

6. Projects which isolate women, except in particular instances have proved untenable. The policy, unless in certain circumstances, should not be pursued.

7. The temptation to employ a ‘woman’ to deal with ‘women’ in the community should be avoided, unless they are suitable qualified. Emphasis should therefore be placed on training staff and/or hiring experienced staff.

8. The differences between rural aquaculture and fisheries are important enough to justify advocating that strategies for the enhancement of gender concerns in projects may have to be formulated differently for the aquaculture sector.

1. INTRODUCTION

The following paper was commissioned as part of the preparation for the Regional Workshop on Enhanced Women's Participation in Fisheries Development to be held in Zimbabwe during the 4–7 December 1990.

The paper presents a very brief overview of changes in general development policy approaches towards women in development (WID) issues, a brief analytical review of selected fisheries development projects and programmes executed by FAO as part of their Regular and Field programmes and discusses policy implications and strategies for integrating gender concerns into fisheries development and management.

It should be stressed at the outset, that the purpose of this paper is not to present a synopsis of Women in Fisheries, an area which has been competently covered by a number of authors. It is also assumed that readers are aware of, and understand, the important role played by women in fishing and fish farming communities in many countries. Instead, therefore, the paper aims to move a step further forward by first reviewing current approaches to involve women in fisheries and aquaculture based on project position papers and then discussing the question of strategies to incorporate gender and more particularly, women, into fisheries and aquaculture development projects.

2. BRIEF OVERVIEW OP CHANGES IN DEVELOPMENT POLICY TO WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Changes in WID Policies

There are a number of approaches towards WID issues, which reflect the change in development policies from that of modernization through accelerated growth to basic needs strategies associated with redistribution, to the more recent compensatory measures and private sector development policies associated with structural adjustment. Each approach puts emphasis on one or more of the three roles of women , their reproductive role, their productive role or their community management role.¹

Although none of these approaches are mutually or spatially exclusive, one approach has generally been more popular at a particular time. This paper only briefly discusses these changes of approach. The discussion is based on the work of Moser² and for more detailed information the reader is requested to refer to the original work.

Before the concept of ‘WID policies‘ had emerged (1950–70), approaches to women in developing countries were welfare-oriented. Women were regarded as passive beneficiaries of development so that policies focussed on socially ‘vulnerable’ groups, which included low-income and rural women. The policies concentrated on improving these women's reproductive role through, for example, the alleviation of malnutrition and the introduction of family planning. Policies to promote economic growth were targeted at increasing the productive capacity of the male labour force. To some extent, these policies are still favoured.

By the 1970's, during the emergence of an active and vocal feminist movement in the West, the concept of WID as a policy, emerged. Attitudes towards women in developing countries were changing as studies and experience revealed their contribution to the productive process. Equality was to be achieved through a top-down approach by providing political and economic autonomy to women. Although achieving a general acknowledgement from policy-makers that women were extremely important in the productive process and therefore to economic growth, this approach (the ‘equity approach’) proved unpopular mainly because it sought to change the social relationship between men and women through a redistribution of power. Politically, therefore, the approach was not acceptable, nor was it easy to implement. Although the approach gave, for the first time, effective exposure to important issues, such as rights to divorce, property and credit which can effect the role of women in the development process, it was abandoned.

During the same period, another WID approach emerged which focussed on the alleviation of poverty through methods to increase productivity of women in low income households and increase employment and income-generating options through better access to productive resources (the anti-poverty approach). This approach reflected the change in development policy from modernization to redistribution with growth and the implementation of basic needs strategies. Associated with this approach, is the recognition that education and employment programmes could also have an impact on population issues. Whilst these programmes are still being implemented, they tend to operate on a small-scale, concentrate on activities traditionally carried out by women and are of varying success. Two of the main criticisms have been that the economic viability of some projects were not ensured before project implementation, and because such projects tended to shift towards the welfare approach the other roles of women, such as their reproductive role, were not given full consideration.

With the worsening of the economic situation of the developing world in the 1980's, and the subsequent IMF and World Bank economic stabilization and adjustment policies, the WID approach shifted to an ‘efficiency approach’. This argued that by improving and increasing women's contribution to economic growth and development, goals of equity would also be achieved.

Because the emphasis of such an approach was on economic development,it depended upon the elasticity of women's labour time³. There was concern that it could lead to the marginalisation of the reproductive and community management role of women.

The most recent WID approach has been the empowerment approach which relies on empowerment of women at the grass roots level, with an emphasis on women's self-reliance. It does not identify power of women in terms of domination of others but in terms of the capacity of women to increase their ability to gain control over crucial material and non-material resources and thus minimise their risks, particularly, for low income women. It is argued that this approach recognises the triple role of women which manifests itself through the formation and organization of groups.

2.2 women or Gender?

Although the importance of the role of women in development has been acknowledged, the approach at a planning and operational level has been minimal. This has led to questions about the limitations of focusing on women in isolation and instead examining ways of focussing on gender. This means that, problems of women and men should be perceived in terms of socially and culturally defined roles distinguishing men from women and not as simply a biological difference. These differences primarily relate to the household division of labour in production and access to and control over, production resources and assets. In turn,these factors condition women's and men's stakes and incentives in development or project activities.

In other words, there can be no universal or unitary sociological category ‘woman’ and therefore there can be no analytical meaning in any universal conditions, attitudes or views ascribed to this ‘woman’. Biological difference between the sexes says nothing about the general social significance of that difference. The images, attributes, activities and appropriate behaviour associated with women are always culturally and historically specific. ie. biological definitions do not provide a universal basis for social definitions. Women and men are products of social relations.⁴

Thus, gender-aware approaches are more concerned with the manner in which relationships between men and women are constructed, and because men and women do play different roles in a society, they will have different needs. Because this is subject to wide variations within and across countries and regions, they cannot be read off checklists. Recognition of these different needs is a crucial element in the success of development projects.

2.3 FAO Policy on WID

FAO policy on the integration of Women in Development issues has been well documented. The purpose of this section is to present a brief chronology of the major developments.

Until the World Conference of International Women's Year was held in 1975, FAO programmes were concentrated on increased agricultural production and little account was taken of the socio-economic effects of such policies. Whilst there were programmes for women, they tended to stress their household and reproductive roles because there was less appreciation of the extent of women's contribution to food production and the economic aspects of development⁵.

Since 1975, FAO has endorsed a number of UN resolutions on the integration of women in agriculture and rural development, as well as supporting the integration of women in rural development objectives as high priority needs, at various FAO regional conferences . In 1975, the Inter-divisional Working Group on Women in Development was established and in 1983, the Home Economics and Social Programme Service was restructured to incorporate a section to focus on women, the Women in Agricultural Production Service (ESHW).

In 1979, the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCAARD) reinforced these policies and became a major turning point in the recognition of women's role in agriculture production. WCAARD adopted the Peasants Charter of which one principle was that:

‘women should women should participate and contribute on an equal basis with men in the social, economic and political processes of rural development and share fully in improved conditions of life in rural areas.’

In 1985, the Nairobi World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women (1975–85) urged governments to integrate women in all activities of development.

During the 24th Session of the FAO Conference in 1987, Resolution 3/87 requested a plan of action for the integration of women in development to be prepared and submitted to the 94th FAO Council. The plan was also requested to include a staff training programme on how to integrate women in development issues in the work of FAO.

A Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development was duly submitted to the 94th Session of the FAO Council in November 1988 and unanimously approved. The Plan aims to ensure that women are accorded equal rights and opportunities and their potential contribution is put to good use by their societies by augmenting the information base on women in agricultural development, formulating and promoting policies based on this knowledge and developing adequate programmes.

The Council recommended that priority should be given to training FAO staff in integrating gender concerns in FAO activities, strengthening ESHW and that all technical divisions should incorporate WID concerns in their programme of work.

2.4 FAO Fisheries Department Policy

Since 1975, a member of the Fisheries Department has served on the Interdivisional Working Group on Women in Development which has been responsible for monitoring women's activities on development.

Recognition of the role of women in fisheries development, particularly in small scale fisheries and rural aquaculture was made at the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development endorsed by the 1984 World Conference on Fisheries⁶. The Conference recommended that fisheries development programmes should further enhance this role.

2.4.1 Core Group on Women in Fisheries

In 1986, the Core Group on Women in Fisheries was established within the Department, consisting of representatives from all services. The initial tasks of the group were to review ongoing and pipeline projects to determine the possibility of including women in project activities, to identify any negative impact on the women's economic activities of development initiatives, to organize or promote workshops, to identify new pilot activities and to sensitize counterpart experts and decision makers in recipient countries on gender issues.

It became clear to the Group that issues relating to the role of women were not systematically considered by experts preparing project documents.

Thus, with the support of the Core Group, Fisheries Industry Division produced a set of guidelines on ‘Women in Fishing Communities’⁷ designed to ensure that women are adequately considered at every stage in project identification, preparation, implementation and evaluation of development activities in the field and at FAO headquarters. However, these guidelines appear to be used infrequently.

In addition, the Core Group, have also instigated the compilation of a Women in Fisheries bibliography⁸ currently being updated, studies on women in fisheries and attendance of relevant workshops attended. Although the Core Group is active, their effectiveness in integrating gender issues into the activities of the various divisions is limited due to lack of allocated funds and the absence of clear objectives within the Fisheries Department on the integration of gender concerns.

2.4.2 Influence of Donors

The increasing importance placed on the inclusion of women as a special target group and more recently, the incorporation of gender issues, into FAO Fisheries projects, has partially come about through changes in donor policy.

In addition, several new donors , whose specific aims are directed towards women, have started to fund fisheries development projects. These are the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA has consistently emphasized the importance of the role of women in population programmes and projects because improving the status of women can influence demographic variables.

2.4.3 Regular Programme Level Activities

Distinction should be made between FAO Fisheries Department field programme activities which are funded from extra-budgetary funds, multilateral and bilateral donors and regular programme activities, funded from contributions of the Member States of the Organization.

The Regular Programme Budget provides the essential and foundation support to the field programme. Regular programme activities on WID issues are undertaken by the various divisions and coordinated by the Core Group. Activities have included the funding of a bibliography on women, organization and participation of workshops and seminars on WID, production of audio-visual materials on women in fisheries, preparation of papers and studies on Women in Fisheries and the publication of guidelines on women in fishing communities.

Field programme activities include all field projects.

2.4.4 Consensus regarding Gender Issues Within Fisheries Department

There appears to be no consensus within the Department on objectives or strategies to incorporate women or gender issues into fisheries development projects. This has led to ad hoc measures being implemented. To some extent, however, this situation is no different to the incorporation of other components into fisheries projects such as socio-economic studies, systematic monitoring and evaluation and consideration for the environment. What is clear is that, despite the efforts of the Core Group on Women, the approaches used by Fisheries Department to incorporate gender issues at the field or regular programme level have been extremely variable.

3. REVIEW OF SELECTED FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

3.1 Selection and Classification of Fisheries Field Projects

With the exception of two projects, only African field projects have been selected for review. At least two of the following criteria had to be satisfied to enable selection:

-   position papers had been received;

-   there was geographic representation in terms of east, west,central and southern Africa;

-   both inland fisheries, marine fisheries and aquaculture projects were included.

Three main sources of information for the comparative analysis were used: position papers if they were available, project documents, project progress and general reports. These sources were further supplemented by discussions with project operations officers and technical officers at FAO headquarters.

Projects were then classified on the basis of the objectives stated in the project document. The following classifications were used:

1. A. Projects which were designed exclusively for women. Two projects are discussed in this category, Women's Fish Processing Activities and Community Development in Sierra Leone⁹ and a project currently being formulated, Assistance to Enhance the Contribution of Women in Socio-Economic Development of Small-Scale Fishing Communities in ASEAN countries.

2. Projects which have a women's component. These include all the integrated fisheries development projects, Integrated Development of Artisanal Fisheries in West Africa (IDAF)¹⁰, Integrated Development to Artisanal Fisheries in Yeji, Ghana¹¹, Integrated Rural Fisheries Development, Nigeria¹², Pilot Project for the Integrated Development of Artisanal Fisheries in Kabak, Guinea Conakry¹³, as well as the Regional Fisheries Development and Management Project for the South West Indian Ocean¹⁴, Aquaculture for Local Community Development (ALCOM) currently operating in the SADCC¹⁵ region and the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP)¹⁶.

3. Projects which have an implicit women's component¹⁷. The projects discussed are Assistance to the Programme for the Development of Artisanal Fisheries in Cap Verde¹⁸ the Development of Small-Scale Fish Farming in the Lake Basin project in Kenya¹⁹ and the Chambo Fisheries Research Project in Malawi²⁰.

4. Projects which have been reformulated to include a women's component at a later stage. The projects discussed are the Integrated Technical Assistance and Credit for Artisanal Fishermen in Lake Tanganiyka project in Tanzania²¹ and the Development of Fishculture in project²² in Zambia.

A. Projects Designed Exclusively for Women

These projects have targeted women as the main beneficiaries.

A.1. Support to Women's Fish Processing Activities and Community Development, Shenge Region, Sierra Leone

The project arose from the activities of another ongoing project in the area, the Integrated Development in Rural Fishing Villages Project at Shenge²³ .This project had conducted initial baseline studies and trials with improved fish handling, smoking and marketing of fish and aspects of community development. As a result, it was felt by project staff and several support missions from IDAF that more substantial and full-time attention should be given to this aspect of the development of the fishing community predominantly undertaken by women. A project was formulated and accepted for funding by DANIDA with the long term objective of ‘improving the socio-economic well-being of the women and their families in the fishing communities of the Shenge Region’. The immediate objectives of the project are the establishment of an effective system for Fisheries Division in conjunction with other agencies which can continue to improve the income generating capacity, directed attention to fish smoking and marketing activities; diversification into other economic activities; and community development activities such as health, hygiene and nutrition.

The project falls under the overall supervision of the Integrated Project at shenge but is staffed by a Community Development Officer and an Health and Nutrition Associate Professional Officer.

According to the Project Document, the project activities were categorized into four headings: (1) activities which addressed problems identified by the fisherfolk themselves (2) activities identified and agreed to by fisherfolk and project jointly, (3) activities towards income enhancement or generation with particular reference to women and (4) training of national staff and villagers. The strategy was therefore to focus on women in fishing communities and rely on inputs from them to direct the fisheries related and income generating activities of the project.

The project has focussed on a selected number of villages and progressed in the introduction of improved fish processing and marketing activities. Income enhancement and generating projects have been started in a variety of activities such as soap production, groundnut and cassava cultivation. A survey of credit to identify needs was quickly undertaken and revolving loan funds for agricultural inputs and medical drugs have been set-up. Community development activities include the provision of water wells.

As the project has only been operational for one year, the impact of activities is difficult to assess at such an early stage. Although this project works closely with another project, impacts will be hard to quantify. It is significant to note that the project document provides no inputs for monitoring and evaluation of the project impact.

A.2. Proposed Project: Assistance to Enhance the Contribution of Women in Socio-economic Development of Small-scale Fishing Communities in the ASEAN Region

This proposed project is discussed briefly here because it provides another example of a women-specific project. The project, still under consideration, has a development objective to improve the socio-economic conditions of small-scale fishing communities with particular emphasis on women and to develop a community based mechanism for small-scale fishery development with the active participation of women. It is proposed that once critical gaps in the socio-economic knowledge about the communities have been identified, target women groups can be identified and self-reliant groups organized in order to strengthen their economic base and framework for linking themselves with formal service institutions. This approach recognises from the outset the importance of collecting baseline socio-economic data on gender specific issues, as well as recognising that women are considered an important engine in improving the conditions of fishing communities. The project is also important because, if funded, it will be the first FAO Fisheries project in the region which focusses on women without being part of a wider fisheries project.

B. Projects with a Women's Component

Within this category there are two types of project, the integrated development projects adopted by IDAF in West Africa and BOBP in the Bay of Bengal region, and projects where women have been identified as a special target group, such as ALCOM in Southern Africa and SWIOP in the South-West Indian Ocean. Each of these projects will be discussed in more detail after a brief explanation of integrated development projects.

B.1. Integrated Fisheries Development Projects

The evolution of the integrated approach to fisheries development projects arose from the failure of production-oriented development strategies. FAO began to reconsider fisheries development policies in the light of these changes. Alternatives were explored by two regional programmes in the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea, which looked at greater people's participation in the identification and design of projects as well as the concentration on a ‘basic needs’ approach. This ‘basic needs’ approach, involved the incorporation of social and economic factors and aspects, whether they were directly fishery-related or not, such as adult literacy programmes and provision of potable water supplies. The approach, which had been already adopted in agricultural projects, thus concentrated on integrated rural development within fishing communities and relied on the participation of all members of the community, including women, to identify their needs.

It was realised that, by it's very nature, such an approach was a long term process. Experience has also shown that it has only been successful under certain conditions and cannot necessarily be replicated every where, nor may it be appropriate in every development situation.²⁴ For example, in some parts of West Africa it was found that where there was a lack of social cohesion combined with a lack of resources, and thus the absence of an ‘economic engine’ to fund community development activities, such an approach was more difficult²⁵.

There is, however, still some debate about the meaning of an integrated approach. To some, it means vertical integration whereby all sub-sectors of the fishery, resource assessment through to consumption are included, whilst to others, integration means horizontal integration where interventions are made which are important to the community and may include non-fishery related activities. To others the approach may mean both horizontal and vertical integration.

B.2. IDAF IN West Africa

In 1983, the Regional Programme for Integrated Development in West Africa was established. The main objective of the regional programme was to assist interested countries in West Africa in the development and management of their small scale fisheries to achieve optimum social and economic benefits through a community centred approach. This approach was to be made operational through micro-projects in communities which would receive managerial, technical and logistical support from a Fishery Development Unit (a multi-disciplinary team of highly trained national and international experts). A model project in Benin was the first micro-project established which also had the purpose of field-testing programme strategies and training small-scale fisheries development personnel.

One of the most important strategies of IDAF has been to implement socio-economic baseline studies of communities, taking into account gender-specific issues, before project activities take place. Micro-projects have now been initiated in Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Three of these projects are discussed in more detail below.

B.3. Pilot Project for the Integrated Development of Artisanal Fisheries in Kabak, Guinea Conakry

The development objective of the project is the establishment of development priorities in the fishery sector, the enhance-ment of fish production for consumption in the interior and the economic improvement of the artisanal fisheries population.

As part of the immediate objectives which included assisting 600 fishermen and their families to increase productivity and profitability in the fishing sector, special assistance was to be accorded to women for fish processing and other income-generating activities. The three year project became fully operational in 1988.

Credit forms an important component of the project and is considered to be a significant factor in generating village level participation in the project activities. However, the problem in finding a women extension officer led to the project having difficulties in identifying the credit needs of women. Thus, despite the project having a mandate to give special attention to women, they found it difficult to do so without appropriate staff. A national expert to work on women's affairs for the Fisheries Development Unit was eventually recruited during the end of 1989, and has been working steadily with women's groups, particularly in the organisation of credit.

The strategy of the project with regard to gender issues, tries to take into account the special needs of different sections of the community through a highly participatory approach and tries to ensure that credit is accessible to all on equal terms. Although the credit component has become a significant part of project activities, it has not been operational long enough to assess it's impact on the community. There are plans to monitor and evaluate the project impact on the village economy in the three villages where the project is operating.

B.4. integrated Rural Fisheries Development Project, Nigeria

This three year project arose as a follow-up to previous projects. The project became operational in October 1988 and has a development objective to maximize the supply and use of fishery resources in an effort to achieve self-reliance in the food sector. The project is located in two areas and builds on a previous FAO project. The immediate objectives are the realisation of government plans to develop two Rural Fisheries Development Centres (Uta Ewa, Akwa Ibom State and Koko, Bendel State) under the Artisanal and Inshore Fisheries Development Project²⁶ into model Integrated Rural Fisheries Development Complexes with all necessary fishery infrastructure and modern amenities for the community. As part of the community development component, the project document states that ‘special emphasis’ should be given to encourage the participation of women and open opportunities for them to be beneficiaries of the project or to occupy positions as extension personnel in the rural fisheries development centres. Apart from the full time socio-economist post, provision was made for three months consultancy for a specialist in women and artisanal fisheries.

The project faced severe delays in the arrival of experts during which time, IDAF carried out baseline socio-economic surveys which revealed that women also carry out fishing, a factor not mentioned in the project document. Further in-depth socio-economic studies specifically investigating the role of women in the fishing community and their needs and activities were also carried out upon the arrival of the socio-economist expert. The delay in project implementation has meant that the socio-economic surveys have preceded other project work which should have a positive impact on project implementation.

However, due to differences in project direction between the donor, project staff and government, the current project is now awaiting revision in order to reach a compromise. It is therefore difficult to assess the impact of the project strategy on the enhancement women nor on the selection of the priority areas to be established by the revised project.

B.5. Integrated Development of Artisanal Fisheries, Yeji, Ghana

The development objective of this three year project is, in consonance with the Government's policy, to increase domestic food supplies through a more effective fisheries resources exploitation, create employment opportunities and improve living conditions for the rural population. The immediate objectives are the establishment of a Community Fishing Centre (CFC) with basic facilities and services to meet the needs of 50,000 fisherfolk, preparation of management plan for operation of a CFC on a self-sustaining basis, and integration of additional women and youth into fisheries and related income generating activities through training.

However, for reasons beyond the immediate control of FAO, background technical and socio-economic surveys were not carried out before the project workplan had been devised. Once they were implemented, the project had to be revised in the light of the findings which have indicated that the project budget was insufficient for the project plan of operation to be carried out. The original objectives of the project were therefore revised in August 1990, 20 months after the project commenced, in order to scale down the project to a manageable size within the budget allocated. The current project document, significantly less ambitious, still relies on the application of an integrated approach. One of the immediate objectives in the revised document is to have women and youth integrated into fisheries and related income-generating activities through direct or indirect training programmes. This objective is meant to be achieved by identifying the disadvantaged members of the community, the areas of specialization, and liaising with community leaders and NGO's to promote appropriate training programmes. However, project inputs do not provide specialists for this objective and related activities to be carried out. For this project, it therefore appears that although the mandate to have project activities targeted for women exists, the funds to do so, do not.

B.6. The Bay of Bengal Programme

The Bay of Bengal which has been operational since 1979, covers seven countries²⁷ and has a main objective of helping member governments improve the conditions of small-scale fisherfolk. Pilot activities are used as a means of developing strategies through the integrated approach.

During the first phase of the programme (1979–86), the focus of activities was on technological development to enable a better quality of life for fisherfolk communities. However, the Programme found that to achieve this objective other issues also had to be addressed such as credit, income-generating activities for women and community development issues. Socio-economic studies were undertaken in several communities to understand and assess their needs. The results of these studies formed the basis for a meeting which tried to assess the role and status of women and to generate project ideas. As a result, income generating projects for women in Thailand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were initiated and projects for the development of extension services to enable ‘women's development’ as well as non-formal education programmes were undertaken in India.

The income-generating projects, which consisted of organizing women into groups, extended their mandate to include education and health care units. The projects were managed by counterpart fishing agencies, BOBP extension staff, hired social workers and community development officers. Most of the enterprises failed due to lack of markets and the unsustainability of such approaches used by the project. It was also found that there was a lack of information regarding the status and dynamics of women in fishing communities in order to address their needs with appropriate activities.

The project to develop extension service activities involved the identification of women in fishing communities to be trained as ‘link workers’ in order to organize women's groups in income generating activities, to ‘link’ them to government departments and give them access to development schemes. The programme was partly successful because it created a range of different activities but as it expanded the quality of the programme declined. This has been attributed to a lack of government transport and staff as well as difficulties in ‘linking’ with other government departments because the institutional mechanisms to do so, were not in existence.

The second phase of the BOBP (1987–91) has seen a major shift in the programmes' objectives towards target-oriented effort aimed at the development of small-scale fisherfolk communities through a participatory approach. The emphasis has thus changed from focussing on parts of the community to focussing on the community as a whole. Women's needs were to be met as and when they arose within the framework of the community. Current projects cover a wide range of activities involving women, from prawn seed supply in Bangladesh, organization of women fish vendors in India, credit provision in Sri Lanka, health care and nutrition services in Thailand.

As a result of BOBP's experiences, the project feels that the best way to address the needs of women is the community participation approach as adopted in the second phase of the programme, but they recognise a need to further study the impact of new technologies on women.

B.7 Regional Project for the Development and Management of Fisheries in the Southwest Indian Ocean

A preparatory phase of the project began in 1981, and two further operational phases commenced in 1983–1990. The emphasis of the project has been to provide assistance to member countries²⁸ in strengthening their national institutional capabilities in fisheries. The direct beneficiaries of the project are stated to be central government fishery administrations and affiliated support institutions. The project document notes that the ‘participation of women in fishery-related activities within the region has been negligible’, although the project document does not provide any data to verify this statement and a study on gender specific needs was not carried out during project formulation. The document also states that in the process of project identification and preparation, the project will endeavour to promote the role of women in fisheries development.

The strategy of the project during it's operational phase can be summarised as follows. Because the emphasis of the project has been on institution building, beneficiaries were largely government employees, which in some countries, were women. The project considers that the needs of female participants are integrated with those of male participants. It has enhanced the capabilities of 4 women fishery biologists and proposed 3 projects which are specifically targeted to women's needs, of which two are in Tanzania (including Zanzibar) where women play a more active role in the fishery. The remaining project proposal is located in Somalia.

B.8. Aquaculture for Local Community Development (ALCOM)

ALCOM is an inter-regional programme currently concentrating activities in the SADCC countries²⁹. According to the project document, the overall objective of the preparatory phase (1986–1990) was to elaborate effective strategies, policies and methodologies for assisting rural people in improving their quality of life through the development of aquaculture. As part of this process, the methodology was to ensure that women of the target group should share significantly in the benefits of the development programme. These objectives of methodology development, testing and demonstration were to be realised through small pilot projects through the SADCC region.

The first activity of the programme was to initiate desk studies on the socio-cultural, biological, environmental and technical aspects of rural aquaculture as a preliminary step in the identification of problems to be dealt with in practical pilot activities. Several aspects concerning the integration of women were highlighted in these desk studies and constraints identified which were likely to affect women's involvement in aquaculture. As a result of these studies and in consultation with participating governments, 6 target areas were identified for ALCOM activities, one of which was the role of women and youth. No specific budget was allocated to this issue, as ALCOM has always stressed the need for a multi-disciplinary approach.

Pilot project preliminary formulation missions were carried out, usually succeeded by baseline socio-economic and technical studies. These studies have confirmed that the areas selected reflect the general trend in rural areas of most of the SADCC countries, where there is a high proportion of de-facto female-headed households as a result of male migration. This has meant that the inclusion of women as beneficiaries has been a foremost priority, although the feasibility of including women in such activities has so far only been investigated in Zambia.

There are five pilot projects currently in their operational stage, located in eastern and northern Zambia, Botswana, and Mozambique. In eastern Zambia, the project is located in an area of limited opportunities for, and practically no history of fish farming, whilst the project in northern Zambia is located in an area where conditions are more suitable and has had a longer history of fish farming. The project in eastern Zambia has provided equal access on information about fish farming to men and women, although no women has pursued the activity. Follow-up studies have led to the conclusion that women probably do not take up fish farming because attempts have been made to integrate fish farming into the traditional household structure and existing division of labour; female-headed households cannot free enough labour for the construction of a pond; and in some cases, prevailing norms may prevent women from being innovators. Finally, the study concludes that age is as important as gender in differentiating adopters and non-adopters and therefore categories of women also have to be identified. A similar study is now being carried out in northern Zambia ( where there are some women fish farmers), in order to test both the methodology used as well as the conclusions.

ALCOM studies have always included gender concerns, but consideration is still being given to methods of how to reach potential female fish farmers, if this is found to be a viable activity.

C. Projects which have an implicit women's component

The projects described briefly below have been classified as projects which have an implicit women's component because, although they have no special consideration for women in their objectives, they have, as a result of their objectives and activities, reached a significant number of female beneficiaries.

C.1. Assistance to the Programme for the Development of Artisanal Fisheries, Cape Verde

The development objective of this three year project (1987–91) is to assist the Government of Cape Verde in its efforts to develop the artisanal fisheries sector. The project aims to help the government define a strategy and a methodology in order to permit the effective execution of diverse development projects in the artisanal fisheries sector. The immediate objectives of the project include the introduction of new fishing technologies, technical assistance for the implementation of an effective programme in the distribution and commercialization of fish and fish products and the organization of training courses. No specific mention is made of women or gender-specific issues.

The project has incorporated gender-specific needs by virtue of the fact that a sexual division of labour exists within the fisheries sector, as men are fish catchers whilst women are fish processors and traders. The project has addressed the needs of women in the fish processing sector through training and commercialization activities. Fish processing and fish harvesting are given equal weight in project activities and although only 25% of the total training budget is spent on informal training for women, this has been because the materials cost are relatively low compared to other training activities. The project has also actively been encouraging the involvement of other agencies and institutions in the fish processing and marketing sector.

In 1990, the project plans to emphasize the integration of fishwives³⁰ and priority will be given to activities that will affect the economic well-being of the entire community with financial support being given to a few enterprises. In addition the project is assisting a national research institution to update socio-economic data on fishwives and is undertaking new surveys comprising gender concerns.

In terms of project impact, the project considers that it is too early to draw conclusions although the project has noticed changes in the role of women in decision-making regarding resource management and it is expected that further changes will occur.

C.2 Development of small-scale Fish Farming in the Lake Basin, Kenya

This four year project (1988–91) arose from earlier projects dating back to 1981. The development objective of this project is to increase small-scale fish culture production by rural farmers in the Western Region of Kenya. The immediate objectives of the project are to strengthen the Lake Basin Development Authority fish culture extension service, increase the production and distribution of fingerlings and increase the production of fish by rural fish farmers from rehabilitated/improved ponds and new ponds.

Although the project document does not specifically address gender issues it is considered that they have been implicitly addressed. This is because individual women and women's groups are active fish farmers in the area so that project extension activities have treated women as one of the important target groups. Women make up 10 % of all fish farmers in the project area (417 women). As part of this policy, a female member of the national technical staff has been sent for aquaculture training in Israel. However, because there are currently no female fish farming extension specialists, the project has also appointed female technical staff who work with the male fish farming extension specialists. Nutrition issues are incorporated into extension activities.

The project has found that the main constraints faced by all fish farmers, including women, are lack of management and technical expertise, markets and working capital. It is also felt by the project that more studies should be undertaken on the activities and role of women in the fisheries sector to allow follow-up actions on on-going activities and to provide a basis for future activities. The project also feels that women's groups have the greatest potential for fish farming development and that these groups, which are often involved in other economic activities, should be strengthened with the help of relevant government agencies and NGO's.

C.3 Chambo Fisheries Research Project in Malawi

This two-year project was designed to provide the government with a management plan for the artisanal and commercial Chambo (tilapia) fisheries of the south-east arm of Lake Malawi. The activities of the project include stock assessment, biological and socio-economic research.

Although women were not identified for special consideration, the research has included gender-specific aspects. The socio-economic research to be carried out is intended to enable assessment of the social and economic impact of a new manage-ment strategy and includes surveys concerning the socio-economic situation of female headed households, nutrition and labour allocation surveys, income and expenditure surveys which should include the contribution of women to fish processing and fish trading in the project area.

D. Projects were reformulated to include a women's component at a later stage

This section briefly describes two projects where women's activities were incorporated at a later stage of project implementation.

D.l Integrated Technical Assistance and Credit for Artisanal Fishermen in Lake Tanganiyka

This project has been operational in phases since 1983 and is a follow-up to earlier projects. From 1983, the emphasis of the project has gradually shifted from assistance in developing fishing methods and improved fish processing techniques to more integrated development assistance and the provision of credit to the artisanal fishery sector. All project activities were earmarked to include both men and women but the after the early phases of the project, the project was reformulated because it was felt that women were not receiving an equal share of the project benefit, especially with regard to access to credit.

During the first phase of the project, women were mainly involved through trials with improved fish smoking/drying technologies and reforestation activities. At the end of this phase, a survey was carried out to assess the role of women and identify further possibilities for women's involvement. Evaluation missions in 1985 and 1987 concluded that not enough attention had been paid to the processing component of the project and although women had evolved as an active target group there was a need for closer involvement of women in all project activities (fisheries development, improved nutritional status of fishing communities, environment) and that the credit scheme should be extended to poorer sections of the community, including women. Furthermore, the 1987 mission also recommended the recruitment of a female extension/training Associate Professional Officer, whom was never recruited. However, in mid 1989, a national WID officer was appointed to the project. Her duties included assessment of credit needs of women, organization and monitoring of women's groups in fishery-related activities, support of the study on the nutritional status of fisherfolk and implementation of a village level programme on nutrition.

Another evaluation mission in 1989 concluded that women and youth do not constitute specifically poorer sections of the community and therefore priority should change to upgrading and establishing fish processing businesses. It was recommended that credit should be made available to non-fishing but fisheries-related activities particularly for women. The mission also concluded that the appointment of the WID officer had meant that the project had actively begun to organize and assist the participation of women.

Women have now gained access to credit for fishing gear and equipment, and it has been observed that for the future, a fund set aside for women's groups would be a more effective way to sustain access to credit for women. The project has also set up a cash loan scheme which provides start-up capital to women for enterprises related to fisheries such as processing and marketing. Income earned in all these activities has been reinvested into further income-generating activities. Credit is also being extended to women for forestry activities.

Training in improved processing methods continues to be undertaken by the project and workshops have been held. In addition, a need has been identified for training in basic business skills. A workshop has also been held on the integration of women in development programmes attended by different women's groups and resource persons.

Since the change in emphasis of the project and the appoint-ment of a WID officer, the project is considered to be having a positive impact on women but creating opportunities to improve their economic situation through improved access to credit as well as enhancement of their role as decision makers in the fishery through ownership of gear, boats and processing equipment.

The recommendations of a recent evaluation mission to assess the WID component project's included further support of the WID programme, the appointment of a women credit officer and extension officer at the national institution dealing with credit, intensification of the socio-economic monitoring component, the appointment of two female extension workers to act as counterparts and assistants to the WID officer and further training for these staff.

D.2. Development of Fishculture in Zambia

As a follow-up to a previous project started in 1980, this project has been operational since 1987. The main objective of the project is to develop fish culture in Zambia, although over the years, the project has altered it's emphasis from technological development to training and extension. The inclusion of women has never been a direct objective of the project but the recommendations of an evaluation mission in 1989, stated there was a need for a study to be conducted on the involvement of women and nutritional aspects of fish culture. This was undertaken later that year.

The findings of the study have indicated that despite the fact that approximately 30 – 40% of rural households are headed by women, there are currently few women fish farmers. It was observed that the project provides extension or advice to a negligible amount of women fish farmers and recommendations were made to provide more extension to wives of fish farmers, as they are often responsible for the management of the pond. However, concern was expressed as to the sharing of benefits from the pond under that situation.

A workshop for women fishculture extension workers was recently organised by the project to investigate the problems faced by female fish scouts and in order to train participants in socio-economic aspects of fish culture and practically-oriented role playing to actively involve women in fish culture extension.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Since 1975, FAO has developed a number of policy recommendations concerning the integration of women, and more recently, gender concerns, in their activities. For FAO Fisheries Department, the recommendations of the 1984 World Conference on Fisheries led to the initiation of a number of activities, although no coordinated approaches or strategies were developed at the regular programme level. For field programmes in Africa, the projects described above considered in their objectives and subsequent activities, the involvement and participation of women to a greater or lesser degree. Some have set out to include women, others have included women simply because they were significant numbers of them in the sector, others have later realised that neglecting women was inhibiting the success of the project, whilst others believed that women could not legitimately be included in the target group. A comparative analysis of the approaches used-by the projects reviewed in the preceding section is difficult because documentation varies from project to project. What is clear is that, because WID objectives have been a relatively new inclusion into FAO general policies and therefore project objectives and activities, there have, as yet, been no tried, tested and guaranteed strategies to include gender concerns.

The following section discusses the most important issues which have arisen out of project experiences and regular programme activities concerning the integration of gender issues.

4.1 Information needs, monitoring and evaluation

A recurrent theme running through all written discussion on the integration of gender concerns is the need for basic socio-economic information (including gender issues) about the sector.

This information should enable a better understanding of gender concerns within the sector, as well as enabling the development of more appropriate project activities which incorporate all members of the community through the identification of the special needs of groups within the community. In addition, the information should enable the selection of socio-economic indicators from which projects can be monitored and evaluated.

The experience of BOBP has also demonstrated that attempts to include women are more successful if information is available about the community in which the project intends to operate. Furthermore, experience by IDAF in West Africa and ALCOM in Southern Africa have shown the value of collecting baseline socio-economic information before project workplans are finalised.

Most of the projects reviewed in this paper have designed activities to incorporate women into project activities, with or without the necessary socio-economic information. In general, those projects which have a better understanding of the socio-economic environment of the project, have had greater success in understanding the reasons why different sections of the community (including men and women) have not been reached by Project activities. They have therefore been able to reorient the project, where necessary. However, in most cases projects do not carry out effective monitoring and evaluation of their activities. Such procedures are valuable for the success of different strategies.

4.2 The Role Of FAO

Since 1975, FAO has acknowledged, at the policy level, the important role of women in food production, but have had little success in determining strategies to reach them through their project approaches. Within FAO Fisheries Department, efforts to actively incorporate gender concerns in regular and field programme activities have been on an ad hoc basis because there has not been an effective system developed to consider the issues. The Core Group on Women was established in direct response to this need and has played a significant role in highlighting gender issues, producing publications and guidelines as well as advising on gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture development. However, their efforts have been limited, largely because the group receives no allocated funds and relies, to a large extent, on the commitment of their individual members -none of whom are gender specialists. Forward planning has therefore been difficult so that outputs have been piecemeal and irregular.

At the project operations level, there has been little consideration for developing operational systematic approaches or strategies to consider gender concerns at all stages of the project cycle, particularly during project identification and formulation. In some cases, this has led to the need for projects to be reformulated at a later stage. This problem should be partially alleviated by gender-awareness workshops currently being held at FAO headquarters for all professional staff.

Finally, there are few linkages between divisions dealing with forestry, agriculture, fisheries and ESHW. Experiences gained in agriculture and forestry in attempts to integrate and enhance gender concerns in field projects are not shared on a formal basis, despite the frequent overlap of these activities at the field level. Coordination should be the role of the ESHW division, but apparently because of lack of staff, they are unable to fulfill this role effectively.

4.3 The Role of National Sectoral Policies and Institutions

Time did not permit the examination of fisheries or aquaculture sectoral policy objectives in the countries where projects were reviewed, but the importance of including gender-specific issues, where relevant, in sectoral plans has to be recognised. This would enable more successful design and implementation of projects. IDAF and BOBP have also found that one of the main problems facing the implementation of a horizontally integrated approach has been the lack of institutional linkages between appropriate government departments.

4.4 Project Approaches; The Participatory Approach

The preliminary conclusion from the IDAF and BOBP experience appears to be that the integration of gender concerns and the enhancement of women within fisheries development should not be treated as a separate component, but should be part of a community-participatory approach involving the whole community. However, IDAF has found that such an approach is not always applicable, and is conditional on the socio-economic structure of the communities in the project area as well as the availability of an economic resource which can fuel the ‘engine’ of community development. The replicability of this approach has not been tested thoroughly and it is still too early to assess its sustainability.

4.5 Project Approaches; The sub-sectoral approach

Some projects have found that women can be incorporated into project activities by addressing their needs through focussing on sub-sectors of the fishery which mainly involve women, such as processing or marketing. The project in Cape Verde and to a certain extent, the project in Kenya are examples, of such an approach. This strategy focusses on improving the sub-sector(s) as a whole and identifying the ‘special needs’ of different groups within the sub-sector. In countries where women are an active part of the fishery sector, this approach may be a more effective way of ensuring that women have access to project benefits.

4.6 Isolation of women and the concept of an homogenous woman?

The current tendency at all levels of fisheries and aquaculture development has often been to assume that ‘women’ are a homogenous group which can be isolated and concentrated upon. Project experience has clearly shown that this is not the case. Whilst in retrospect, this may be considered an obvious observation, it was partially caused by the pressure from donors to include a ‘women's component’, combined with a lack of basic socio-economic information about the target communities. In addition, in some cases, project staff did not have the adequate funds and/or expertise to incorporate gender concerns, nor the inclination or commitment, to address such issues.

BOBP dealt with the question of whether women should be isolated and treated as one component of a project or whether they should be included in the mainstream of project activities. Their experience as well as other field experience in forestry and agriculture has shown that women-only projects may be satisfactory under certain circumstances³¹ but otherwise such projects tend to isolate women.

4.7 Staff

Related to the concept of the homogenous women, have been attitudes towards staff recruitment. Whilst enhancing the participation of women has, in some programmes and projects, been greatly helped by the appointment of appropriate and experienced staff, a common misconception has been to hire female specialists in other disciplines and incorporate WID issues within their terms of reference. This ‘it takes one to know one’ policy obviously does not always apply and such a strategy can only be effective when these female staff have relevant experience and/or training in such issues.

4.8 Fisheries and Aquaculture

Broadly speaking, and using examples from field projects described above, aquaculture and fisheries development projects in Africa often operate within a very different set of circumstances. In addition, unlike fisheries, rural aquaculture in Africa has been a relatively recent development and in many cases, the involvement and participation of communities has been very limited. Also, whilst fishery-related activities may be the main economic activity in coastal communities, rural aquaculture is usually a secondary economic activity.

The majority of rural aquaculture development projects are in inland areas and involve agricultural communities. Strategies to enhance the participation of women will, in most circum-stances, be linked to those employed by agriculture develop-ment projects. An exception to this is coastal aquaculture, which may involve fishing communities, although there is currently little small-scale coastal aquaculture development taking place in Africa.

Under certain circumstance, strategies used to enhance the participation of women in aquaculture might be applicable to projects where fishing is introduced in an area where previously there has been no history of fishing (eg. newly constructed dams).

5. RECOMMENDATIONS

The project experiences described above have shown that methods to enhance the participation of women or to include gender concerns in programme and project activities are gradually being developed, but the process has been slow. Changes have to be brought about at all levels of policy-making, from international agencies such as FAO, the national sectoral level down to the project level. The following recommendations are intended to form a basis for further discussion and refinement.

1. Information needs. Information must be made available on gender concerns (eg. baseline socio-economic data, sexual division of labour, time allocation, male/female rights and access to factors of production etc.), before policies are made and projects planned and implemented.

2. National sectoral policies. National sectoral policies and reviews should, where appropriate, consider the contri-bution of women in the sector, and acknowledge their role in helping to achieve sectoral objectives.

3. FAO Headquarters capabilities. At FAO headquarters, staff should either be trained (which has begun) and/or experienced staff employed to deal with gender issues. Funds should be allocated under the regular programme to coordinate these activities. Part of the regular programme activities under this component should also be to effectively screen project documents to ensure that relevant gender issues and special needs of particular groups are taken into consideration, appropriate staff and budgetary resources put into place. A group of officers who have appropriate skills or knowledge about the country/area where the project is to be located should also be included in such analysis. There should also be greater cooperation and exchange of experiences between the various divisions (eg. agriculture, forestry, ESHW) at FAO headquarters on strategies developed on the integration of gender concerns.

4. Project identification and formulation. Strategies to incorporate gender concerns at the project identification and formulation stages must be developed so that they can be implemented in a practical way. There are likely to be a number of strategies, depending on the socio-economic environment and flexibility should be built in to the system. The experiences of FAO, as well as multilateral and bilateral donors, NGO's, national institutions (not only in fisheries) should be involved in such a process. Regional or sub-regional workshops, which include representatives of the project's target group, may be an effective way of developing these strategies.

5. Project objectives and implementation. Project documents and annual workplans should have clear objectives and strategies concerning the integration of gender concerns in their activities. The best approach to achieve these objectives, such as the sub-sectoral approach or the integrated approach, should then be determined.

6. Community support. The importance of gaining the support of both men and women within the community has been recognised as a necessary pre-requisite for project success. Projects which isolate women, except in particular instances have proved untenable and such a policy, unless in certain circumstances, should not be pursued.

7. Project staff. Trained and experience staff have contributed to the ability of projects to incorporate and consider gender concerns as well as ‘special needs’ of groups within the community. The temptation to employ a ‘woman’ to deal with ‘women’ in the community should be avoided, unless they are suitably qualified. Emphasis should therefore be placed on training staff and/or hiring experienced staff.

8. Consideration of differences between fisheries and aquaculture. It is considered that the differences between rural aquaculture and fisheries are important enough to justify advocating that strategies for the enhancement of gender concerns in projects may have to be formulated differently for the aquaculture sector. It should also be realised that these strategies may not be mutually exclusive.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ADCP, 1987 Women in Aquaculture - Proceedings of the ADCP/NORAD Workshop on Women in Aquaculture Rome, FAO, 13–16 April 1987. ADCP/REP/87/28. 123p.

Carloni, A., 1983 Integrating Women in Agricultural Projects: Case Studies of Ten FAO-Assisted Field Projects. FAO Rome 1983 Unpublished, 103p.

CECAF, 1988 Internal Study on the Integrated Approach to Small-Scale Fisheries Development, information paper presented at the Eleventh Session Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic, CECAF/XI/88/Inf.4

Collart, A., 1986 Development Planning for Small-Scale Fisheries in West Africa: Priactical Technical and Socio-econoic Aspects of Fish Processing.IDAF/WP/7 Cotonou, 33p.

Everett, G.V., 1989 Small-Scale Fisheries Development Issues in West Africa. IDAF/WP/26 Cotonou, 44p.

FAO, 1984 Report of the FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development, Rome 27–6 July 1984, FAO Rome.

FAO, 1989 Twenty-Fifth Session of the FAO Conference, FAO Plan of Integration of Women in Development, C/89/14-Sup.1.

FAO, 1989 Progress Report to the 96th Session of the Council on the Implementation of the Plan of Action for Integration of Women in Development. FAO, Rome.

FAO, 1988 Women in Fishing Communities Guidelines. FAO, Rome.

FAO, 1989 Women in Community Forestry Guidelines, FAO, Rome,

Janssen, J., 1986 Women in Fisheries Development; Toward Improved Policy and Practice. Paper prepared for FAO Fishery Industries Division, FAO, Rome. Unpublished.

Merrikin, P. (comp.), 1987 Women in Fisheries - A Selective Annotated Bibliography,FAO Fisheries Circular (811):34p

Moore, H.L., 1988 Feminism and Anthropolgy. Feminist Perspectives, Polity Press, Cambridge. 246 p.

Moser, C.O.N., 1989 Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender Needs. World Development Vol.17, No.11.

WFP,1989 WFP Sectoral Guidelines on Women and Development: Gender Variables in Food Assisted Projects, WFP/CFA:27/P/INF/4. WFP, Rome.

¹ Reproductive responsibilities are child bearing and rearing. Productive roles include income earning and subsistence production. Community management roles include Managing limited resources such as water and health services to ensure the survival of their Households.

² Moser, C.O.N. Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender Needs World Development Vol. 17 No.111989

³ That is, that their working day can be expanded in order to increase their productive roles.

⁴ Moore, H L, Feminism and Anthropology. Feminist Perspectives, Polity Press, Cambridge 1988

⁵ Jannsen,J. Women in Fisheries Development:Toward Improved Policy and Practice. Paper prepared for the FAO Fisheries Industries Division, 1986. Unpublished.

⁶ Report of the FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development Rome 27 June to 6 July 1984, FAO, Rome 1984

⁷ Women in Fishing Communities: Guidelines. FAO, Rome 1988

⁸ Merrikin,P.(comp.) , Women in Fisheries-An Selective Annotated Bibliography, FAO Fisheries Circular (811):34 p. 1987

⁹ GCP/SIL/018/DEN

¹⁰ GCP/RAF/192/DEN

¹¹ GHA/88/044

¹² NIR/87/010

¹³ GUI/87/025

¹⁴ RAF/87/008

¹⁵ GCP/INT/436/SUE

¹⁶ GCP/RAS/118/MUL

¹⁷ An implicit women's component Beans that women have not been specified as a special target group but the women are one of the project's main target groups.

¹⁸ CVI/86/006

¹⁹ KEN/86/027

²⁰ MLW/86/013

²¹ GCP/URT/066/NET

²² GCP/ZAM/038/NET

²³ SIL/82/015

²⁴ Internal Study on the Integrated Approach to Stall-Scale Fisheries Development, information paper presented at the Eleventh session Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic, CECAF/XI/88/Inf.4 June 1988

²⁵ ibid.

²⁶ NIR/77/001

²⁷ Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

²⁸ Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania

²⁹ Angola, Botswana, Lesotho. Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe

³⁰ Fish trader and not necessarily wife of a fishermen

³¹ Such as when there are strong taboos against unrelated Males and females working together, or the effects of past discrimination need to be overcome, or where women request a measure of self-reliance to avoid conflict or competition with men.