Socio-economic and Gender Empowerment - Avenues through Ornamental Fish Rearing

Lalit Kumar

Fisheries and aquaculture play an essential role in the livelihoods of millions of people
around the world, including India. Fisheries sector has an important place in the national
economy of India. The fisheries sector provides employment to over 14.5 million people in
India, including its primary, secondary and tertiary segments. The women are estimated to
represent about half of the workforce in fisheries sector. The sector has proved to be an
important contributor to the food production and providing nutritional security to the food
basket, as well as, contributing to the exports. With vast aquatic resources and increasing growth,
the fisheries and aquaculture sector has been recognized as a strong and sustainable generator of
income and employment.

Women in fisheries:

Globally, as well as in India, women play an important role in the fisheries sector. In
most of the regions, women manage smaller boats in coastal and inland waters, harvesting pearls,
molluscs, clown fishes, collecting seaweeds, setting traps/nets, etc. Women, though mostly not
accepted on-board fishing vessels, but are very well recognized in areas like financial
management, processing, record keeping, small-scale marketing, trading, etc. Women are
involved in the processing of fish catches including, sun-drying, salting, smoking, preparing fish
products as well as, working in fish processing industries. Women, thus, play a variety of roles
and perform a number of activities in the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the country and
generating substantial returns for their households and the nation as a whole.

Socio-economic problems faced by fisherwomen

Women face several problems in the fisheries sector: There is a sizeable difference in the
income earned between males and females, as men get higher benefits. This could be partly
because many of the roles played/activities performed by the women are often not perceptible to
the outside world. Mechanization of fishing operations, especially in the marine fisheries sector,
has drastically limited the role of women and men in the fishing enterprise, resulting in lot of
changes in the socio-economic dynamics of the fishing communities. Major problems faced by
women in fisheries include limited access and control over resources, knowledge, finance,
technologies, time, lack of influence in decision-making, lack of infrastructure and facilities and
marketing support, etc. Majority of fishing villages have grossly inadequate basic amenities such
as better educational and healthcare facilities, communication & transportation facilities,
drinking water supply, electricity, sanitation, etc.

Gender empowerment: Concepts

Gender means socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, attributes and means and
responsibilities of women and men, that a given society considers appropriate for men and
women. The difference in roles and responsibilities among women and men comes from our
families, societies and culture. Thus, the concept of gender includes our expectations about the
characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of women and men. Gender roles and expectations are
learned and they are dynamic in nature, meaning thereby, they can change over time and they
may and do vary among cultures. The concept of gender is vital as it facilitate our understanding
of how the women and men are influenced by differences such as age, class, religion, culture,
etc. It also highlights hierarchical roles and relations between and among men and women,
unequal value given to women's work and women's unequal access to resources, decision-
making and power. This is an important factor in gender analysis.

Gender inequality refers to the inequality in conditions among women and men.
Gender discrimination is defined as the systematic and unfavourable treatment of individuals
on the basis of gender, which denies them rights, opportunities or resources. Women's
differential access to power and control of resources is central to this discrimination in all
institutional domains, be it family, community, market or state.

Gender mainstreaming is a holistic approach to include gender issues, concerns and

gender awareness at all spheres of development activities and policies. This can be achieved by
assessing the impact of all activities on gender equality and gender equity, and taking necessary
corrective measures, accordingly. UNESCO has defined gender mainstreaming as 'a strategy for
making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the policies
and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit
equally and inequality is not perpetuated. basic principle of gender mainstreaming is the
systematic consideration of differences between conditions, situations and needs of women and
men in community policies and activities.

Empowerment, as defined by the UNESCO, is about people - both men and women
taking control over their lives, setting their own agendas, gaining skills, building self-confidence,
solving problems and developing self-reliance. Empowerment is an interactive process which
occurs between the individual and his environment, in the course of which the sense of the self as
worthless or having low worth, changes into an acceptance of the self as an assertive citizen with
socio-psychological and politico-economic ability. The outcome of this process is skills based on
insights and abilities, the essential features of which are a critical political consciousness, an
ability to participate with others, a capacity to cope with frustrations, an urge and ability to
improve one's economic well-being and to struggle for influence over one's environment.

Women's empowerment is known as a process of raising of status of women by

promoting their development in economic, social, political and legal spheres of life. The
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) considers three pillars to achieve
gender equality and women's empowerment, as given below:

a. Economic empowerment: Improving women’s access to income‐earning opportunities and

productive assets. Improving rural women’s economic status and helping them build an asset
base contribute to breaking down gender stereotypes. Eliminating the barriers that prevent
women from getting access to fundamental assets is crucial for broad‐based economic growth
and poverty reduction.

b. Decision‐making: Increasing women’s say in community affairs and strengthening women

producers’ organizations. Rural poor people need to be able to influence the public and private
decisions that affect their lives, if change is to be sustainable.

c. Well‐being: Improving access of rural people, in particular women, to basic services and
infrastructure. Rural women give high priority to basic needs such as health services, water,
education and infrastructure when consulted during planning of development initiatives. IFAD
recognizes that lack of, or limited access to, essential services and infrastructure is a major
obstacle to women’s advancement because it prevents them from participating in the mainstream
of economic development and community life.
Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index*: A vital tool with potential applications in
the fisheries sector
It is clear that women play a critical role in growth and development activities in the
agriculture and allied sectors (including fisheries), however, they face several obstacles and
economic constraints which limit their further inclusion in development of the sector. Thus, there
is need to identify those obstacles and implement corrective measures towards women's
empowerment. Realizing this, International Food Policy Research Institute, United States
Agency for International Development, and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative,
have collaboratively developed the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI). It
measures the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector in an
effort to identify ways to overcome those obstacles and constraints. The Index aims to increase
understanding of the connections between women’s empowerment, food security, and
agricultural growth. It measures the roles and extent of women’s engagement in the agriculture
sector in five domains: (1) decisions about agricultural production, (2) access to and decision-
making power over productive resources, (3) control over use of income, (4) leadership in the
community, and (5) time use. It also measures women’s empowerment relative to men within
their households.

The WEAI is a composite measurement tool that indicates women’s control over critical
parts of their lives in the household, community, and economy. It allows us to identify women
who are disempowered and understand how to increase autonomy and decision-making in key
domains. It is also a useful tool for tracking progress toward gender equality.

The WEAI is composed of two sub-indexes: one measures the five domains of
empowerment for women, and the other measures gender parity in empowerment within the
household. It is an aggregate index that is based on individual-level data on men and women
within the same households.

(i) Five domains of women's empowerment sub-index

This sub-index assesses whether women are empowered across the five domains:
agricultural production, resources, income, leadership, and time, and they comprise ten
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* Adapted from (IFPRI 2012), Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index.
indicators. Each domain is weighted equally, as are each of the indicators within a domain. It is a
measure of empowerment rather than disempowerment that shows how many domains women
are empowered in. This 5 Domains of Empowerment (5DE) sub-index contributes 90 percent of
the weight to the WEAI.

The domain indicators are built on the following definitions.

• Production: Sole or joint decision-making, as well as, autonomy in agricultural production

• Resources: Ownership, access to, and decision-making power over productive resources.

• Income: Sole or joint control over income and expenditures

• Leadership: Membership in economic or social groups and comfort in speaking in public

• Time: Allocation of time to productive and domestic tasks and satisfaction with the available
time for leisure activities

(ii) Gender Parity Index (GPI):

This sub-index reflects the percentage of women who are as empowered as the men in
their households. For those households that have not achieved gender parity, the GPI sub-index
shows the gap that needs to be closed for women to reach the same level of empowerment as
men. Using a survey method that goes beyond the traditional practice of interviewing only a
household “head” (often a male) to interview both a principal male and a principal female, the
GPI allows to compare the agricultural empowerment of men and women living in the same
household.

Based on both sub-indexes, the WEAI is thus an aggregate index that shows the degree to
which women are empowered in their households and communities and the degree of inequality
between women and men within the household. Therefore, progress toward empowering women
in agriculture will be achieved by empowering them in the five domains and achieving gender
parity within the household.

A woman is defined as empowered in 5DE if she has adequate achievements in four of

the five domains or is empowered in some combination of the weighted indicators that reflect 80
percent total adequacy. A key innovation of the Index is that it is able to show in how many
domains women are empowered and at the same time reveal the connections among areas of
disempowerment. This enables decision-makers to focus on improving the situation of the most
disempowered women. In addition to tracking the nature of empowerment in five domains, the
WEAI measures how empowered women are relative to men in the same household, which is
critical to understand the gender empowerment gap.

Ornamental fish rearing and other avenues for gender empowerment

As we are aware, women are involved in several income-generating activities in the

fisheries sector, alongwith the men. They have even greater employment and livelihood potential
in collection and post-harvest operations of sea weeds, muscle and oyster culture, crab fattening,
backyard nurseries and hatcheries, scampi farming freshwater fish culture, seed production,
ornamental fish capture & trade, fish & fishery product processing, etc. Some of the activities
like in clam fisheries, exclusively women perform the entire activities pertaining from its
collection, from the backwaters and ultimate disposal to consumers. Women in clam fisheries
perform time consuming and prolonged labour intensive works, which leave very little time for
rest, leisure or the pursuit of any other activities. Marine ornamental aquaculture has emerged as
a livelihood alternative to the coastal community. It may be undertaken not only on large scale
but also on small scale and provides good opportunity even to women for earning livelihood.
This sector has great potential in enhancing foreign exchange, employment generation,
contributes to national income growth and promotes equitable distribution of income and also
serves as an alternative livelihood in rural sectors to fishers. Lack of adequate knowledge about
aquaculture and livefish trade is the prime reason for the low contribution of the sector. The
small-scale or back yard breeding units play a major role in the supply of tank bred ornamental
fish in India. With adequate infrastructure development, the marine ornamental fish breeding
units can produce several varieties which are in demand in the international market, thus, not
only providing livelihood opportunities but also serving the cause of conservation by reducing
pressure on wild ornamentals fishery resources.

There is a need to put value to the socio-economic aspects of it and measure how much
these income generating activities contribute to the empowerment of women in the fisheries
sector. This should include tracking/monitoring of the role played/ impact had, by such
livelihood generation activities on other domains of their lives, and ultimately to their
empowerment. This needs systematic documentation by way of using a variety of tools &
methodologies provided by social sciences such a specifically prepared survey formats, key
informant interviews, participant and non-participant observations in the field, etc. It is here that
the role of Women's Empowerment Index comes into picture. There is strong need to develop
and use such a comprehensive index suitable to the circumstances in the fisheries sector in the
country which can serve as a tool, not only to measure the status of fisherwomen's
empowerment, but also to monitor and measure the progress of various policies, programmes
and interventions towards the goal of empowerment by way of enhancing avenues and quality of
livelihood opportunities..