| Naga
- The *ICLARM Quarterly
Vol.
22, No. 2 (April - June 1999)
Editorial
The
human dimension is well in the forefront of all
of *ICLARM’s work. With the ultimate aim
of improving the lives of the poor people, the
research must focus on the impacts of human activities
on fisheries and vice-versa. The question we constantly
ask ourselves at *ICLARM is: how will our research
and management advice affect the people who depend
directly and indirectly on fisheries? And in looking
for the answers it has become apparent that the
role of women in this sector is important and
needs attention.
As
in much of agriculture and the informal sector,
the contribution of women in fisheries is unrecognized
and undervalued. Not only do women contribute
substantially to these activities, but the income
they earn has a more significant impact on the
nutrition and education levels of the family.
Thus, the empowerment of poor women by raising
their status, skills and opportunities to earn
is a good approach to achieve a better life for
the “present and future generations of poor
people in the developing countries”.
Speakers
at the International Symposium on Women in Asian
Fisheries (p. 39) focused on the experiences of
women workers in this sector in Asia. The underlying
themes of all the papers were that: the contribution
of women in the fisheries sector should be recognized
more explicitly; in Southeast Asia, women in this
sector spend about 45% of their time on
fishery activities, equal to the men; 5 to 7 persons
derive job dependency from one person that produces
fish or fish products; and that women in and around
the fishery industry should be assisted to participate
in local fishery, ancilliary and related enterprises.
In short, there needs to be an explicit agenda
to focus on the conditions and requirements of
women in and around fisheries and to harness their
potential to improve the lives of their families
and the community around them. *ICLARM’s
work, undertaken in collaboration with the Bangladesh
Fisheries Research Institute and several NGOs,
in promoting aquaculture in household ponds and
unused waterbodies in Bangladesh has incidentally
changed the lives of hundreds of poor women and
their families, within the existing social fabric,
even though women were not specifically targeted
as beneficiaries. Much more can be achieved if
developmental activities actually recognize this
potential and keep women as an important part
of their overall focus.
Perhaps
a good start would be to replace the word ‘fishermen’
with ‘fishers’, for it is not always
what a word means but what it implies that strongly
influences people’s perceptions and actions!
Rita
Kapadia
Editor,
Naga, The *ICLARM Quaterly
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