HomeDAVAO RESEARCH JOURNALvol. 12 no. 5 (2021)

Role of women and coastal livelihood in the small-scale fisheries (SSF) of Lupon and Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental

Imee S Maynawang | Christine Peralez | Haifa  Lorenzo

 

Abstract:

In the small-scale fisheries, women have played a significant role, upending their traditional role of domestic activities. In this study, we shed light on various roles of women in their coastal communities in Lupon and Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental, and how their different activities revolve around the fisheries sector. A total of 88 women were randomly interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires in their homes and fish landing sites. Women participated in the fisheries between the ages of 35 and 55 years; in terms of educational attainment, they were primarily high school level and mostly were Cebuano. About 50% of them have access to credit, which they use for small businesses, purchasing fishing equipment, and the needs of their families. Women were involved in activities such as pre-fishing, fishing offshore, post-fishing, and fishing-related activities. Women were also engaged in collecting shells such as latticed top shells (Tectus fenestratus), little bear conch (Canarium urceus), singed cones (Conus consors), and blood clams (Anadara antiquata) at low tide. Their husbands were mainly engaged in fishing, where their common fish catch are flyingfish (Cheilopogon furcatus), roundscad (Decapterus macrosoma), dolphin fish (Coryphaena hippurus), skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye scad (Selar crumenophthalmus), needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus), and common squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana). Overall, the women in the coastal communities played a significant role in the fisheries. Further, there is a need to empower them by providing loans and credit facilities, developing their capabilities, improving their livelihood, and enhancing their socioeconomic status.



References:

  1. Arenas, M. C., and A. Lentisco. 2011. Mainstreaming gender in fisheries and aquaculture: A Stocktaking and Planning Excercise - Final Report. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture organization.
  2. Aquila, L. (2002). Fisheries and aquaculture in coastal areas. Gender makes the difference. IUCN Briefing Notes, Geneva.
  3. Bennett, E. (2005). Gender, fisheries and development. Marine policy, 29(5), 451-459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. marpol. 2004.07.003.
  4. Choo, P. S., & Williams, M. J. (2014). Avoiding pitfalls in development projects that aspire to empower women: a review of the Asian fisheries society gender and fisheries symposium papers. Asian Fisheries Science S, 27, 15-31.
  5. Cliffe, P. T., and Akinrotimi, O. A. (2013). The role of women in fishery activities in some coastal communities of Rivers State, Nigeria.
  6. De Guzman, A. B. (2019). Women in subsistence fisheries in the Philippines: the undervalued contribution of reef gleaning to food and nutrition security of coastalhouseholds. SPC Women Fisheries Bull, 29, 34-40.
  7. De Silva, D. A. M. (2011). Faces of women in global fishery value chains: Female involvement, impact and importance in the fisheries of developed and developing countries. NORAD/FAO Value Chain Project.
  8. Do Canto Verde, P. (2002). Workshop on Gender and Coastal Fishing Communities in Latin America.
  9. Doss, C., Summerfield, G., and Tsikata, D. (2014). Land, gender, and food security. Feminist economics, 20(1), 1-23.
  10. Ekundayo, T., and Kolo, R. J. (2005). The role of women in fisheries activities in some selected fishing villages in the southern zone of Kainji Lake basin. FAO. (2011). Mainstreaming gender into project cycle management in the fisheries sector. Field manual.
  11. FAO. (2012a). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012.
  12. FAO. Rome, Italy. 209 pp. (also available online at www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727i2727e 00.htm.
  13. FAO. (2013). Mainstreaming gender in fisheries and aquaculture: A Stocktaking and Planning Excercise - Final Report. FAO. (2015). A review of women’s access to fish in small-scale fisheries, by Angela Lentisco and Robert U., Lee. Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular No. 1098. Rome, Italy.
  14. Frangoudes, K., and Gerrard, S. (2019). Gender perspective in fisheries: examples from the South and the North. Transdisciplinarity for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance: Analysis and Practice, 119-140
  15. Fröcklin, S., de la Torre-Castro, M., Håkansson, E., Carlsson, A., Magnusson, M., and Jiddawi, N. S. (2014). Towards improved management of tropical invertebrate fisheries: including time series and gender. PLoS One, 9(3), e91161.
  16. Geheb, K., Kalloch, S., Medard, M., Nyapendi, A.T., Lwenya, C.and Kyangwa, M. (2008). Nile Perch and the Hungry of Lake Victoria: Gender, Status and Food in an East African Fishery. Food Policy, 33(1): 85–98.
  17. Gopal, N., Hapke, H. M., Kusakabe, K., Rajaratnam, S., and Williams, M. J. (2020). Expanding the horizons for women in fisheries and aquaculture. Gender, Technology and Development, 24(1), 1-9.
  18. Graziano, K., Pollnac, R., and Christie, P. (2018). Wading past assumptions: gender dimensions of climate change adaptation in coastal communities of the Philippines. Ocean & Coastal Management, 162, 2433. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.01.029.
  19. Harper, S., Grubb, C., Stiles, M., and Sumaila, U. R. (2017). Contributions by women to fisheries economies: insights from five maritime countries. Coastal Management, 45(2),91-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/08920753.2017.1278143
  20. Harper, S., Zeller, D., Hauzer, M., Pauly, D., and Sumaila, U. R. (2013). Women and fisheries: Contribution to food security and local economies. Marine policy, 39, 56-63.http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2012.10.018.
  21. Hauzer, M., Dearden, P., and Murray, G. (2013). The fisherwomen of Ngazidja island, Comoros: Fisheries livelihoods, impacts, and implications for management. Fisheries Research, 140,28-35 doi:10.101 6/j.fishres.2012.12.001.
  22. Kleiber, D., Harris, L., and Vincent, A. C. (2018). Gender and marine protected areas: a case study of Danajon Bank, Philippines. Maritime Studies, 17, 163-175. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s40152-018-0107-7
  23. Kleiber D, Harris LM, Vincent ACJ. (2015). Gender and small-scale fisheries: a case for counting women and beyond. Fish and Fisheries 16: 547–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12075.
  24. Kleiber, D., Harris, L. M., and Vincent, A. C. (2014). Improving fisheries estimates by including women’s catch in the Central Philippines. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 71(5), 656-664.
  25. Kronen, M., and Vunisea, A. (2009). Fishing impact and food security–Gender differences infinfisheries across Pacific Island countries and cultural groups. SPC women in fisheries information bulletin, 19(3).
  26. Kusakabe, K. (2003). Gender issues in small scale inland fisheries in Asia: women as an important source of information. New approaches for the improvement of inland capture fishery statistics in the Mekong Basin, 50-58.
  27. Lwenya, C., Lwenya, K. R., Abila, R., and Omwega, R. (2005, October). Gender Participation in fisheries of Lake Victoria, Kenya. In International Conference on the Conservation and Management of Lakes. Paper presented at Nairobi, Kenya (pp. 266- 272).
  28. Macusi, E. D., Liguez, A. K. O., Macusi, E. S., & and Digal, L. N. (2021). Factors influencing catch and support for the implementation of the closed fishing season in Davao Gulf, Philippines. Marine Policy, 130, 104578.
  29. Nwabeze, G. O., Ifejika, P. I., Tafida, A. A., Ayanda, J. O., Erie, A. P., and Belonwu, N. E. (2010). Gender and fisheries of lake Kainji, Nigeria: A review.
  30. Olufayo, M. O. (2012). The gender roles of women in aquaculture and food security in Nigeria. Retrieved February, 3, 2016.
  31. Pérez-Brito, E., Galmiche-Tejeda, Á., Zapata-Martelo, E., Martínez-Becerra, Á., and Meseguer Elizondo, R. (2012). Contexto de vulnerabilidad de las mujeres desconchadoras de ostión (Crassostrea virginica), del ejido Sinaloa, Primera Sección, de Cárdenas Tabasco. Agricultura, sociedad y desarrollo, 9(2), 123- 148.
  32. Prieto-Carolino, A., Mediodia, H. J., PilapilAnasco, C., Gelvezon, R. P., and Gabunada, F. (2016). Gendered spaces in abalone fisheries in the Philippines. Asian Fish. Sci, 29, 1-13.
  33. Rohe, J., Schlüter, A., and Ferse, S. C. (2018). A gender lens on women’s harvesting activities and interactions with local marine governance in a South Pacific fishing community. Maritime Studies, 17, 155-162.
  34. Siar, S. V. (2003). Knowledge, gender, and resources in small-scale fishing: the case of Honda Bay, Palawan, Philippines. Environmental 31, 0569- 0580.
  35. Siason, I., Tech, E., Matics, K. I., Choo, P. S., Shariff, M., Heruwati, E. S., and Sunderarajan, M. (2002). Women in fisheries in Asia.
  36. Siason, I. M. (2001, November). Women in fisheries in the Philippines. In International Symposium on Women in Asian Fisheries, Malaysia: ICLARM World Fish Center.
  37. Sze Choo, P., Nowak, B. S., Kusakabe, K., & Williams, M. J. (2008). Guest editorial: Gender and fisheries. Development, 51 (2),176-179. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.1.
  38. Thorpe, A., Pouw, N., Baio, A., Sandi, R., Ndomahina, E. T., and Lebbie, T. (2014). “Fishing na everybody business”: Women’s work and gender relations in Sierra Leone’s fisheries. Feminist Economics, 20(3), 53-77.
  39. Timmers, B. 2013. Gender relations in Lake Wamala’s fishery (Draft report). Central Uganda.
  40. Torell, E., Castro, J., Lazarte, A., and Bilecki, D. (2021). Analysis of gender roles in Philippine fishing communities. Journal of International Development, 33(1), 233-255. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3520.  
  41. USAID Oceans. (2018). Gender Analysis of the Fisheries Sector. The USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership. Produced by the National Network on Women in Fisheries in the Philippines, Inc.: General Santos City, Philippines
  42. Weeratunge, N., Snyder, K. A., and Sze, C. P. (2010). Gleaner, fisher, trader, and processor: understanding gendered employment in fisheries and aquaculture. Fish and Fisheries, 11(4), 405-420.
  43. Weeratunge, N., Snyder, K., and Sze, C. P. (2009). Gleaner, fisher, trader, processor: Understanding gendered employmentin the fisheries and a quaculture sector. In Workshop on gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: differentiated pathways out of poverty. Rome (Vol. 31).
  44. Williams, M. J. (2002). Women in fisheries: pointers for development.
  45. World Bank. (2012). Hidden harvest: The global contribution of capture fisheries. Washington, DC.
  46. Yap, E. E. S., Peralta, E. M., Napata, R. P., Espectato, L. N., and Serofia, G. N. (2016). A model for gender-based postharvest fisheries technology transfer initiatives in the Philippines. Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries: Engendering Security in Fisheries and Aquaculture, 145.
  47. Zhao, M., Tyzack, M., Anderson, R., and Onoakpovike, E. (2013). Women as visible and invisible workers in fisheries: A case study of Northern England. Marine Policy, 37,69-76 http://dx-.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2012.04.013