Gender and Development

Cambodia: Enhancing the Role of Women in Inland Fisheries

Background & Rationale

Cambodia's inland fisheries directly support more than one million people and provide the single largest source of protein, calcium, and vitamin A for Cambodia's young and increasing population. Women are particularly active in fishing, fish cage operation, fish selling, fish processing, fish gear and equipment construction, and in many other activities related to fishing throughout the year. However, the fisheries sector in Cambodia has neglected women in the formulation of policies and programs because of the stereotyped assumptions that women are not physically capable of engaging in fishery activities. In addition, researchers have had a tendency to see the household as a single unit, and this has limited the attention given to gender relations and led to a disregard of women's needs and expertise. However, poverty reduction, especially in a post conflict situation with a high prevalence of households headed by women like that in Cambodia, will not be realized unless due consideration is given to women's role in and contribution to fisheries production.

Expected Outcome

In the context of Tonle Sap Basin Strategy, the goal of the subproject is to foster, promote, and facilitate pro-poor, sustainable economic growth. The subproject hoped to further advance gender equality in inland fisheries and alleviate poverty by mainstreaming gender considerations in all the project's initiatives. Outputs of the subproject will eventually become inputs into the implementation of a component in the Tonle Sap Environmental Management Project, which will organize communities and empower women, the trained provincial staff, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) for natural resource management in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve.

Results to Date

The subproject's main outputs included

1. an information base on gender issues and in inland fisheries
2. strength-weakness-opportunity-threat (SWOT) analysis of constraints and opportunities for women in fisheries
3. a strategy to promote women's full participation in fisheries sector development

The strategies listed below aim to enhance the role of women in inland fisheries and intend to address three groups of women:

• The poorest of the poor, who engage in shallow water fishing close to home as day-to-day strategy. For them it is essential to establish community fisheries and ensure enforcement of their management.
• Poor women in fishing/farming households, who engage in fishing as a part-time activity that is highly seasonal. They need (i) legal access to fisheries resources not far from home; (ii) tools for small-scale fishing and fish processing; and (iii) facilities and infrastructure such as roads, schools, clinics, markets, and sanitation installations.
• Poor women in specialized fishing, totally dependent on the availability of wild fish resources to propagate cultured fish. For them the strategies can include formation of production cooperatives for fish processing and marketing at an industrial/commercial scale, in collaboration with community fisheries councils.

Related Documents

• Final Report