Gender Transformative Approaches: Addressing gender inequalities to strengthen fisheries and aquaculture

FAO and the CGIAR Gender Platform held a virtual event to share insights and lessons learned from specific country-based examples on addressing gender-based causes of food insecurity and malnutrition in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

The event, “Experiences in Implementing Gender Transformative Approaches in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector for Food Security and Nutrition”, was part of a series of technical learning webinars organized by FAO under the EU-funded Joint Programme on Gender Transformative Approaches for Food Security and Nutrition (JP GTA).The programme has been implemented by FAO, IFAD and WFP since 2019, with the financial support of the European Union.

The Global Coordinator of the EU-funded joint programme on gender transformative approaches (GTAs) emphasized the important role played by GTAs, a suite of approaches used in identifying and addressing the underlying causes of gender inequalities, including institutionalized norms, which can affect livelihoods and food security and nutrition.

Experts from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and WorldFish shared success stories and lessons learned in their work to improve gender relations in the fisheries sector in Zambia, as well as in smallholder aquaculture in Bangladesh. Deputy Director of the FAO Fisheries Division, Audun Lem, closed the event highlighting the critical role which GTAs can play in boosting women’s empowerment, while reducing fish losses and improving the efficiency in fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU-funded programme “Gender transformative approaches (GTA) for enhanced food security, nutrition and agriculture” aims to contribute to the achievement of SDG2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) by addressing the root causes of gender inequalities and triggering processes that lead to change. You can read more about gender transformative approaches and the programme here.