Category: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion

The women who manage Mekong Delta ponds every day, who know by observation when water conditions are changing, and who absorb the financial shocks of disease outbreaks in their household budgets, are already doing the work that smart aquaculture is designed to support.

Across all shrimp farming systems, gender roles remain clearly differentiated. Men predominantly control decision-making, investment, and technical operations, particularly in intensive farming systems. Women’s participation is largely supportive, focusing on harvesting, daily maintenance tasks, and household financial management.

The experiences of farmers in Con Son demonstrate that gender equality is not only a social issue but also a development opportunity. When women and marginalized groups have equal access to resources, knowledge, and decision-making processes, aquaculture systems become more productive, resilient and sustainable.

In terms of shrimp-mangrove farming in Cambodia, the existing evidence implies that women are key laborers, marketers, and household decision‑makers, but are poorly represented in formal farm, cooperative, and mangrove‑governance decisions. Designing farming systems to be equitable requires explicit inclusion of women in producer groups, co‑management institutions, training, and benefit‑sharing mechanisms.

The nature-based aquaculture systems of the Delta have survived centuries of flood, drought, and market upheaval in no small part because of the accumulated ecological knowledge of those who tend the systems; and the greater part of that wisdom has flowed through the hands of women.