The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has released the latest edition of Yemaya, its newsletter on gender and fisheries. The articles in this issue of Yemaya are drawn from the presentations and discussions at the webinar organized by GAFS, Women work in Fisheries, Too! held on 29 November 2021. The webinar identified areas that respond to the inaccurate and inadequate portrayal of women’s work in Asian countries.
Yemaya No. 65, dated March 2022, features articles from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Uganda, on decent work, small-scale fisheries and gender issues in seafood industry.
Arlene Nietes Satapornvanit and Meryl J Williams write that a shared understanding on gender and labour in fisheries would benefit from defining “some basic terms commonly used when applying a gender lens to activities in fish value chains, fisheries statistics, policies, and interventions.”
Nikita Gopal illustrates the shortcomings of definitions by examining women’s fishing in India, for which “no data or official records of women doing fishing” exist. Yet, recent studies contradict this, finding women are often doing small-scale fishing, earning incomes and also feeding families.
In studies in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand that considered all workers, Jariya Sornkliang said: “we did not find any value chain in which all workers were of just one gender.”
Ravadee Prasertcharoensuk recommends practical strategies to make women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an important part of marine and coastal policies and plans, without which “the gender gaps in marine and coastal biodiversity management will only widen”.
Joe Pres Gaudiano shares that woman cope with stress, debt-burden, and extra work to make ends meet, and are the lead decision-makers regarding household finances, whether their fisher husbands are at sea or on land.
In the case of businesses in fisheries and other food and beverage sectors, Caterina Meloni found that “investor’s demands, regulatory pressure and customer demands drive the growing importance of the gender dimension,” but “that advancing gender equality in the workplace is not a linear process.” It can be slower than foreseen.
Rachel Matheson pointed out that gender was the “glaring omission” from the certifications, codes of conduct, and non-profit partnerships happening in the sustainable seafood movement.
As Aazani Mujahid, in her presentation indicated, women in coastal communities involved in food production should be given opportunities to become entrepreneurs, start up their own SMEs, and expand their small-scale businesses through selling both online and offline.
Kyoko Kusakabe in her article argue that a range of critical issues confront women in small-scale fisheries: under recognition of women’s contributions diversity of women’s involvement, the intersectional disadvantage of certain groups of women, lack of participation in fishworkers organizations and participation in decision making.
During a virtual ceremony on the 19th of November 2021, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu presented the Margarita Lizarraga Medal, to Margaret Nakato of the Katosi Women Development Trust in Uganda, whom he praised for her work in organising women in fishing communities to work together. Nakato in her acceptance speech argued that the award would inspire the women she works with to continue to support food security and eradication of poverty.
The Profile column by Sivaja Nair looks at how Margaret Nakato, Executive Director of the Katosi Women Development Trust( KWDT) became a community leader in Uganda and her work in organizing women in small-scale fisheries in Uganda has received international recognition.
What’s New, Webby? ICSF Archives/Digital library by Ahana Lakshmi: ICSF’s Archives/Digital library contains collections of more than three decades, built up since ICSF’s documentation centre was set up in Chennai in 1999 with the twin objectives of gathering all kinds of information pertinent to small-scale fisheries and making it available to all stakeholders in an easy and rapid-access format.
The Milestones column by Aakanksha Agarwal looks at the recently published The World Inequality Report 2022 and focuses on one key concept – gender pay gap. The article highlights the fact that a cursory reading provide a comprehensive understanding of where societies stand in terms of gender inequality at work, the relative overall shares of labour income accruing to women and men stands out as an essential indicator.
Vishakha Gupta in the Yemaya Recommends section, points out that the book, The Island of Sea Women by Lisa see argues that “Every woman who enters the sea, carries a coffin on her back. In this undersea world we tow the burdens of a hard life”.
The current issue of Yemaya also carries the ever-popular cartoon strip, “Yemaya Mama”(“Mama’s view of Women’s Day!”).
ICSF’s Newsletter on Gender and Fisheries, Yemaya No.65, March 2022, can be accessed at:
https://demo2.icsf.net/yemaya-articles.php?id=9111
For more, please visit demo2.icsf.net