By Dr. Nguyen Van Bao
Small-scale aquaculture (SSA) provides a great opportunity for improving food security, increasing household incomes, and advancing environmental sustainability (Subasinghe 2009; Arthur 2022). However, the unequal participation of women and men in this sector continues to limit its full potential. While women play significant roles across the aquaculture value chain, they often remain invisible in planning, underrepresented in leadership, and disadvantaged in access to resources (Gopal 2020). Within the broader push toward environmentally friendly aquaculture systems, integrating gender considerations is not only a matter of equity but also one of efficiency and sustainability (Kruijssen 2018). This article explores the gendered dimensions of SSA, outlines key barriers to women’s participation, and identifies opportunities to transform aquaculture into a more inclusive and ecologically responsible livelihood.
Gendered Roles and Contributions in Small-Scale Aquaculture
Both women and men contribute extensively to aquaculture activities, albeit in the different capacities shaped by social norms and economic constraints. Men are often engaged in labor-intensive tasks such as pond construction, harvesting, and market transport, whereas women are more involved in post-harvest processing, household-level pond management, and marketing (Gopal 2020; St. Louis 2022). Specifically, women’s roles often extend to tasks such as harvesting aquatic species, preparing and mixing feed, and maintaining detailed records related to production inputs, outputs, and financial transactions. These contributions, while essential to the day-to-day functioning and economic viability of SSA operations, are frequently undervalued or overlooked in formal assessments and policy frameworks (Gopal 2020).
Research has shown that women are particularly active in household-level aquaculture systems, which are easier to integrate with domestic responsibilities and require fewer financial inputs (Kusakabe 2003; Chambon 2024). While SSA systems often exhibit lower levels of productivity compared to industrial operations, they serve as vital sources of nutrition and income for rural households, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Within these systems, women frequently assume critical yet underrecognized roles, especially in the post-harvest phase where they are actively involved in processing small fish into value-added products by drying, smoking, fermenting, or preserving them. These activities not only enhance food security through improved availability and diversity of nutrient-rich foods but also generate income through participation in local and informal markets.
Barriers to Women’s Participation and Empowerment
Multiple structural and socio-cultural barriers hinder women’s equitable participation in SSA. One of the most significant constraints is limited access to land and water resources. Land ownership is commonly held by men, and women often face legal and customary barriers to controlling ponds or water bodies (Kawarazuka 2010). Additionally, women are underrepresented in extension services and training programs, which are often designed without consideration of their time constraints, literacy levels, or mobility.
Traditional gender norms further limit women’s engagement in decision-making processes, both within households and communities. Responsibilities for childcare, elder care, and household chores restrict their time and autonomy. Even when women participate in aquaculture, they may lack control over income or assets generated from their labor. Migrant women, indigenous groups, and those from marginalized communities face compounded disadvantages due to their legal status, ethnic background, or socio-economic position.
Policy Gaps and Institutional Blind Spots
Aquaculture policies and broader national development strategies frequently lack an explicit and systematic focus on gender. While certain policy documents or action plans may acknowledge women’s roles in aquaculture, such references are often superficial or symbolic, lacking specific objectives, measurable indicators, or actionable mechanisms for implementation and accountability (Gonzalez Parrao 2021). This tokenistic inclusion reflects deeper institutional blind spots and normative biases that fail to recognize gender as a critical dimension of sustainability and sectoral performance.
Compounding this issue is the widespread absence of sex-disaggregated data related to aquaculture labor and participation. Existing data collection systems tend to prioritize quantitative indicators such as production volumes, yields, and revenue generation, while overlooking qualitative but equally vital aspects, such as intra-household decision-making power, distribution of labor burdens, access to and control over resources and income, and women’s agency within the value chain. This data gap severely limits the ability of policymakers, development practitioners, and researchers to design informed, equitable, and context-specific interventions.
In the absence of robust, gender-sensitive evidence, the unique challenges and contributions of women remain invisible in both policy discourse and practical programming, ultimately reinforcing patterns of exclusion and undermining the potential for inclusive aquaculture development.
Towards Environmentally Friendly and Gender-Inclusive Aquaculture
Advancing sustainable aquaculture requires gender-transformative approaches that address both ecological and social dimensions. Women tend to prioritize household food security, resource conservation, and diversified livelihoods, principles that align with sustainability goals. Integrating gender considerations into aquaculture can thus amplify environmental outcomes by ensuring that women’s knowledge, labor, and priorities are recognized and supported. To achieve gender-inclusive and environmentally sustainable aquaculture, several strategies should be pursued.
Design Gender-Appropriate Technologies: These should be labor-saving, affordable, and adapted to women’s circumstances. For example, backyard pond systems, integrated aquaponics, and low-input feed solutions can enable women to participate without sacrificing their domestic responsibilities.
Strengthen Women’s Resources: These include security of land tenure, access to financial services and supply of market linkages. Providing women with formal titles, group loans, and transport support can enhance their independence and capacity.
Mainstream Gender into Aquaculture Policy Frameworks: This means moving beyond rhetorical inclusion to institutional accountability. It involves setting gender quotas, monitoring gender-specific indicators, and creating grievance-assessment mechanisms.
Invest in Gender-Disaggregated Data Systems: These improve planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Data should capture not only roles and participation but also benefits, risks, and outcomes.
Promote Community-Level Changes: These involve supporting women’s groups, cooperatives, and leadership roles. Encouraging men to act as allies and to challenge restrictive norms is also vital.
Conclusion
Adopting a gender-inclusive approach to small-scale aquaculture is not only a matter of social equity but also a strategic imperative for advancing sustainability and resilience within the sector. Recognizing and valuing the diverse roles that both women and men play across the aquaculture value chain is critical to unlocking the sector’s full potential as a livelihood strategy that simultaneously promotes environmental stewardship, food and nutrition security, and poverty alleviation.
AQUADAPT 