Inclusive Management Through Gender Consideration in Small-Scale Fisheries: The Why and the How

Abstract

In a world in which ocean degradation is widespread and aggravated by the effects of climate change, there is a need to contribute with new management approaches to ameliorate the situation. Here, inclusive management is proposed as such an alternative. This contribution argues that including all genders in the management process is needed and the inclusion itself can generate new ways to solve problems. An assessment of findings from literature of the positive aspects when considering gender in environmental governance is presented and related to the specific situation of small-scale fisheries (SSF). These positive findings are explained in terms of (1) Participation, (2) Space, actors and activities, (3) Economic power, and (4) Equity and environmental stewardship. Further, a practical approach is taken and a model for gender inclusion in coastal/ocean management for SSF is presented and illustrated with a case of seagrass SSF in East Africa. The central argument is that in view of ongoing coastal/ocean degradation and the moderate governance and management success, it is worth trying management approaches that consciously and explicitly consider gender and diversity of actors. This will bring central actors (e.g., women not previously considered) into the management process and will provide the base for better governance and policy reform.

Women’s experiences in influencing and shaping small‐scale fisheries governance

“…These also included the cases which mentioned that women's participation in decision‐making was particularly low. For example, despite women's and men's differential interactions with the SSF associated with seagrass meadows in Zanzibar, Tanzania, the management has historically been androcentric and the participation of women in decision‐making was low (de la Torre‐Castro, 2019). Thirteen cases discussed second order tasks such as active participation in decision‐making and management roles.…”

“…Some legislation was gender discriminatory while other legislation did not include concrete measures to effectively address gender issues (12 cases). For example, exclusion of women was evident through institutionalized rules, practices and membership rights such as the MPA rules that banned fisherwomen from gleaning in Mozambique, Danajon Bank (Philippines) and Brazil (Baker‐Médard, 2017; Kleiber et al, 2018; de la Torre‐Castro, 2019). Lack of formal recognition for fisherwomen (e.g.…”

Women and adaptive capacity to climate change in East African seascapes – Zanzibar as an example

“…Lack of participation in environmental issues is of course detrimental and unfortunately widespread and well known in the women and environment literature (e.g. Dasthagir, 2009;Agarwal, 2010;Fröcklin et al, 2013;Gustavsson et al, 2014;Hanson, 2016;de la Torre-Castro, 2019).…”

“…Another aspect important here is that men have more freedom to move and work within different occupations, while women perform their activities in the shallow shores near the household where temperature increases due to climate change are more pronounced (Fröcklin et al, 2013;de la Torre-Castro, 2019). Simply put, climate change will bring negative changes to the environmental assets on which women's livelihoods depend while the capacity to realize assets' value, migrate or shift livelihoods is low.…”

Development from a distance: Exploring an international non‐profit's interactions with communities during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“… (East African staff member) This staff member acknowledged that communication with key community members, community leaders, and other stakeholders was prioritized by the organization and also restricted by the remote communication strategies available during the first year of the pandemic. Like other small‐scale fisheries and co‐management studies have acknowledged, research and interactions with fishing communities in the global South is often understood through a gendered lens, prioritizing the male perspective because of ease of access, male‐dominated roles within the sector, and culturally responsive sampling techniques used by Westerners (de la Torre‐Castro, 2019 ; Harper et al, 2013 , 2020 ; Kleiber et al, 2014 ). Because of the health and logistical constraints caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic, SFI staff members were forced to reduce the quantity of stakeholder involvement to those who held the most power in the community and for the co‐management associations, which were men.…”