Learning Initiative on Women’s Empowerment, Access to Finance, and Sustainable Fisheries
A USAID Learning Initiative
Investigating evidence.
USAID’s Learning Initiative on Women’s Empowerment, Access to Finance, and Sustainable Fisheries explores whether incorporating access to finance and women’s empowerment into USAID fisheries management programs results in improved economic and ecological outcomes. This initiative is a partnership between USAID’s Office for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev) and the USAID Forestry and Biodiversity Office (FAB), with support from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Initiative is currently underway, with final results expected to be released in 2021.
Why a Learning Initiative
Understanding the case for gender and sustainable fisheries planning and management.
A growing body of research centers on how women are involved in wild-caught fisheries worldwide, and the critical roles that fisheries play in women’s economic empowerment. USAID and IUCN cataloged this research in a report released in 2019, Advancing Gender in the Environment: Gender in Fisheries – A Sea of Opportunities. In developing this report, USAID and IUCN staff identified a gap in the existing research around women’s empowerment, access to financial services, and the sustainability of fisheries management. While women’s empowerment and access to finance are featured in wild-caught fisheries programming, it is not well understood whether these approaches contribute to sustainable fisheries outcomes.
Understanding the case for gender and sustainable fisheries planning and management.
A growing body of research centers on how women are involved in wild-caught fisheries worldwide, and the critical roles that fisheries play in women’s economic empowerment. USAID and IUCN cataloged this research in a report released in 2019, Advancing Gender in the Environment: Gender in Fisheries – A Sea of Opportunities. In developing this report, USAID and IUCN staff identified a gap in the existing research around women’s empowerment, access to financial services, and the sustainability of fisheries management. While women’s empowerment and access to finance are featured in wild-caught fisheries programming, it is not well understood whether these approaches contribute to sustainable fisheries outcomes.
What do we hope to learn?
The Learning Initiative is designed to investigate two hypotheses:
- Empowering women through access to finance and other capacity building interventions results in stronger fisheries management outcomes than programs lacking these elements.
- Engaging women as key stakeholders in fisheries management and improving access to financial tools provides meaningful pathways for women’s empowerment.
What is the strategy?
Investigating two hypotheses.
Projects in four countries.
The Learning Initiative uses a mixed-methods approach to assess data from four sites where USAID is engaged in gender and fisheries programming. Three programs (Ghana, the Philippines, and Indonesia) are new or on-going activities, which are focused on improving the management of wild-caught fisheries and have included strong gender elements in their theories of change. One program (Bangladesh) recently completed activities that included work and collected data on the three elements of the Learning Initiative: access to finance, women’s empowerment, and sustainable fisheries management. Findings from all sites will be analyzed to assess whether they are consistent with the hypotheses above.
Investigating two hypotheses.
Projects in four countries.
The Learning Initiative uses a mixed-methods approach to assess data from four sites where USAID is engaged in gender and fisheries programming. Three programs (Ghana, the Philippines, and Indonesia) are new or on-going activities, which are focused on improving the management of wild-caught fisheries and have included strong gender elements in their theories of change. One program (Bangladesh) recently completed activities that included work and collected data on the three elements of the Learning Initiative: access to finance, women’s empowerment, and sustainable fisheries management. Findings from all sites will be analyzed to assess whether they are consistent with the hypotheses above.
Key resources
AGENT Webinar: Gender and Fisheries – A Sea of Opportunities
This webinar provides participants an in-depth look at important findings from AGENT research, spanning the status of gender and wild-caught fisheries.
Advancing Gender in The Environment: Gender in Fisheries—A Sea of Opportunities
Gender in Fisheries – A Sea of Opportunities summarizes research on the intersection of gender and wild-caught fisheries, exploring the ways in which fisheries offer important entry points to enhance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment while also contributing to more effective interventions and more sustainable outcomes.
Web stories
Fishing For Equality and Sustainability
Based on a report on gender and fisheries by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), USAID has launched a Learning Initiative to study the linkages between women’s empowerment, access to finance and sustainable fisheries management. Read on to learn about the recent IUCN-facilitated workshop that took place in Accra, Ghana.
A sea of opportunities for women’s empowerment, prosperity, and sustainability in fisheries
As a direct result of USAID prioritizing and investing in women’s entrepreneurship, and securing women’s access to capital, the El Rosario Cooperative in Nicaragua (pictured below — credit MAREA USAID) was able to transform their undervalued raw black cockles into high-value appetizers — increasing the value of their products by 1,100 percent.
Supported by an IUCN-USAID partnership
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