Catalog

Men are Gold and Women are Cloth!
ADB Review [ January - February 2004 ]

Through the Tonle Sap Initiative, the Government, civil society, and communities are learning how to manage their resources and boost livelihoods

By Manoshi Mitra (mmitra@adb.org)
Senior Social Development Specialist, Mekong Department

FLOATING LIVES Life on the Tonle Sap Lake is full of risks and vulnerabilities

So goes a saying in Cambodia that pretty much sums up the roles and position of men and women in traditional Khmer society. While attempts to change women’s relative position and societal attitudes are ongoing, much of that inequality is deeply entrenched in Cambodian society.

Cambodia is a poor country with 36% of its population below the poverty line. Gender inequality reinforces poverty and lack of opportunity for women, who constitute 52% of the population and head 25% of all households. In the Tonle Sap Lake area, which is a rich natural resource base for Cambodia and for Southeast Asia, gender inequality and poverty are serious issues.

Hard Lives in the Floating Villages The six provinces surrounding the lake have high poverty levels ranging from 38 to 60%. Education and health indicators are lower than national averages. School enrollment rates are low—and school completion rates even lower. Child labor is rampant. Girls stay home to help mothers with domestic work and income-earning activities, while boys fish. Female-headed households are the worst off, with limited livelihood assets. They are for the most part illiterate and lack resources and access to local institutions and decisionmaking processes.

For the poor, livelihood opportunities are limited because the common property resources —upon which they depend—are controlled for the benefit of a select few.

Lack of access to credit exposes the poor, particularly women, to private borrowing from traders who control the marketing of their produce.

Lack of access to markets and information further renders their already risky livelihoods even more unsustainable. Poor households, particularly female-headed households, face food shortages from June to October, when they have to borrow for consumption at exorbitant rates. Illness can throw the household into a financial crisis, leading to loss of assets and incomes—and further indebtedness.

Women living on the lake recount their constant vulnerability because they have few assets and lack options to improve their situations. They do not want to see their children face the same difficulties they face. But they cannot afford to educate their children, or give them good health. They are exposed to elements that require them to move several times a year. Every move entails heavy expenditure in boat repairs, fuel, and labor charges—a heavy burden for female-headed households that lack adult male labor.

Improved Livelihoods, Management The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is playing a lead role in trying to reduce poverty among the inhabitants of the lake and its surrounding areas, as well as in bringing about improved management of the lake and its resources. Through the Tonle Sap Initiative, which is based on the principles of sustainable livelihoods, social justice, and empowerment, ADB is working with the Government of Cambodia to build capacity—both within Government and civil society (including communities) —to make decisions and manage their resources to augment livelihoods while preserving the environment.

ADB projects are building on lessons learned from work done by others, particularly the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which has pioneered community-based resource management. This experience is demonstrating the capacity and commitment of poor women and men in protecting their resource base while building viable livelihoods. ADB is starting a participatory poverty assessment in the six provinces of the Tonle Sap. Designed after intensive consultations with stakeholders, including women in floating communities, the methodology is gender sensitive. It aims at facilitating women and men’s full and free participation and expression of their views. This is regarded as an important step for giving the poor—especially poor women—a voice. It is a first step toward community empowerment, social justice, and gender equality.

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