Why gender equality matters in fisheries and aquaculture? Why consider gender issues in the fisheries sector? How can we promote gender equality and empower women in the fisheries sector? Addressing the problems of poor fish women's in Egypt

1. Impact of Fish Marketing on
Women Income
Dr. Abd El-Rahman Khattaby
Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research, ARC, Egypt
4-5 November 2020 Cairo, Egypt

2. Objectives
• Why gender equality matters in
fisheries and aquaculture?
• Why consider gender issues in the
fisheries sector?
• How can we promote gender equality
and empower women in the fisheries
sector?
• Addressing the problems of poor fish
women's in Egypt

3. Why gender equality matters in fisheries and aquaculture?
In 2014, women accounted for about 50 percent of the
workforce in fisheries and aquaculture, when the secondary
elements such as processing and trading are included. This
reliance is significant given that the sectors support the
livelihoods of approximately 10–12 percent of the world’s
population and are central to global food and nutrition security.
And yet, women in developing countries face substantive
challenges to engaging in and benefiting equitably from these
sectors. At play are a combination of factors, including limited
access to and control over assets and resources, constraining
gender norms, time and labor burdens of unpaid work, and
barriers to sustaining entrepreneurship. The result is women
having fewer opportunities and receiving smaller returns from
fisheries and aquaculture than men—including lower income—
and being left in positions of poverty.
These challenges are significant for more than reasons of social
justice. Growing evidence signals that gender equality will play
a key role in these sectors’ important contributions to achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on poverty
reduction and food and nutrition security. In particular, gender
equality in fisheries and aquaculture can bring many potential
benefits including higher fish productivity and household
incomes, as well as positive nutritional outcomes.

4. Why consider gender issues in the fisheries sector?
In the fisheries sector, men and women engage in
distinct and often complementary activities that are
strongly influenced by the social, cultural and
economic contexts they live in. Male-female relations
vary greatly and are based on economic status, power
relations, and access to productive resources and
services
Worldwide, the fisheries and aquaculture sector
provides direct employment and revenue to an
estimated 180 million or more people. Almost
globally, women play major roles in the fishing
industry and in livelihoods and family nutrition. These
women, estimated at nearly 90 million, it is often
invisible to policy makers who have .It is traditionally
assumed - wrongly - that fisheries are largely male
Domain.

5. Why consider gender issues in the fisheries sector?
Compared with men, women often face more problems
related to technology, finance for enterprise expansion, and
transport. Their plight is worsened at the market level where
they encounter price fluctuations for their products, or where
social and/or cultural pressures limit their market
opportunities to locations that are close to home. If women
are able to access local markets, they may still be unable to
access the national or global markets that men have access
to. They often assume responsibility for their families’ daily
subsistence needs, which sometimes drastically depletes
their working capital.
Women are mostly responsible for skilled and time-consuming onshore
tasks, such as making and mending nets, processing and marketing catches,
and providing services to the boats. In western Africa and Asia, as much as
60 percent of seafood is marketed by women, and in many parts of the
world they also do a significant amount of shellfish gathering/clam gleaning
– a fishery activity that is often under-recognized, or not recognized at all.

6. How can we promote gender equality and empower women in the fisheries sector?
Both women and men must be accorded equal rights and be able to
participate in the development process, in order to ensure that their
interests and needs are adequately protected and fulfilled.
International human rights law recognizes equal rights, yet women
remain marginalized, while their workloads and responsibilities have
increased.
In view of their important role in the post-harvest subsector, women
must be allowed to participate in decision-making processes, and be
provided with the access to physical and capital resources for
developing their industry and meeting their needs and aspirations. It
is necessary to provide them with training and formal education to
improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of their
activities; to ensure adequate infrastructure, equipment,
technologies, and access to markets.

7. How can we promote gender equality and empower women in the fisheries sector?
This will support their enterprises, increase their income potential
and reduce their marginalization. However, there is always the
risk of elite capture (by men) of new income-generating
opportunities for women. For example, as seen in the
development of the mussel culture industry in India (which was
once traditionally carried out by women), once the activity
became profitable men began to engage in culturing as well, and
women were driven out of the industry (Ramchandran 2011). It is
also urgent to give women equal control in the value chain and
profit margins. This is particularly relevant as women often still
work in low-status, less-skilled and low-paid jobs, and on
informal, casual and temporary contracts that disqualify them
from receiving social benefits.

8. Addressing the problems of poor fish women's in Egypt
Improving Employment and Incomes
through the Development of Egypt’s
Aquaculture Sector (IEIDEAS) project
(2011–2015). WorldFish and its partner CARE
International
Skills training, subsidized equipment and access
to low-cost credit are enabling women fish
retailers in Egypt to overcome their daily
problems and increase sales
Women retailers lack a safe and official place to
sell fish, and often face harassment from the
police, who regularly confiscate their fish
because they do not have an "official seller"
license.

9. Thank You
Dr. Abd El-Rahman Khattaby
Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research, ARC, Egypt
4-5 November Cairo, Egypt