Page 29 - IB March 2018 Edition

Gender

Empowering Pacific rural women

47-year old Emily Qilarisa lives women.
in Sepa, a remote village of A gender analysis of the aqua-
around 240 residents in Choi- culture sector in Fiji conducted
seul Province in the northern by SPC in 2017 found otherwise
most part of Solomon Islands. with rural women playing a
For the people in her commu- major role in aquaculture farm-
nity, the adverse impacts of ing across tilapia farms in the
climate change is something country, however they are not
they’re having to contend often included in training op-
with as coastal erosion, severe portunities.
storm surges and inundation The analysis found that aqua-
resulting from tropical cyclones culture activities are having an
has destroyed food crops and impact on the empowerment of
threatened food security. women like Laisani with respect
To address the needs of Pa- to more decision-making oppor-
cific rural women like Emily, tunities (outside the household)
The Pacific Community (SPC) and are leading to their greater
with the financial contribution recognition in formal structures
of USAID has helped over 300 within communities.
women set up home gardens in In addition, group-managed
Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon farms – either a women’s com-
Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu mittee collective or a cluster
and taught them new farming – and large family-run farms
skills to grow a greater diver- appear to give women a sense
sity of crops for enhanced food of power, notably as a result of
security. SPC has also helped associations of women and the
the women learn new food opportunity for a collective voice.
preparation skills, and assisted Prior to the study, SPC had
with the setting up of poultry undertaken gender mainstream-
farms, piggeries and honey bee ing training and field work for
farms to generate income and A young mother prepares land in her bush garden prior to planting in Auki on extension officers in the Fijian
strengthen their communities’ Malaita Island in Solomon Islands. Photo: SPC Ministry of Fisheries with the
resilience. view that women’s roles and
Prior to the assistance, Emily and other tilapia pond. She has set up a small road- inputs are included in community based
women in her community would walk long side market, where she and other women projects.
distances to bush gardens to grow root from her community sell fresh produce to With the empowerment of rural women
crops and vegetables in order to feed their passing motorists. and girls a specific focus of the sixty-
families and bring in some much-needed When Laisani embarked on tilapia second session of the Commission on
income for household needs. Today, they farming, she was made fun of by people the Status of Women in New York in mid
have thriving home gardens and nurseries in her village and surrounding community. March, SPC is strengthening its commit-
where they grow a greater diversity of food Often men would ask what she knew ment to work alongside Pacific Island
crops and sell the surplus produce at the about tilapia farming, insisting that this governments to improve the lives of Pacific
village market day on Saturdays. was no job for a woman. Undeterred, rural women.
Compared to their urban counterparts, Laisani persevered reinvesting the earn- The different divisions of SPC are work-
Pacific rural women face a myriad of chal- ings from her farming and aquaculture ing together across a number of critical
lenges; from accessing basic services and activities back into her business. Being development areas including fisheries
infrastructure such as water and sanita- able to make her own decisions has been and agriculture, water and sanitation, and
tion, electricity, health and education; to very empowering, she said. Additionally, energy to name a few to improve the liveli-
being more at risk to domestic violence it has been empowering for other women hoods and living conditions of Pacific rural
and unwanted pregnancies; as well as be- in her community when they sell produce women. In addition, SPC is also addressing
ing more exposed to the adverse impacts of and earn their own money at the roadside the social dimension of empowerment by
climate change like cyclone and droughts. stall that Laisani has set up. raising awareness about inequality, build-
Laisani Adivuki is a single mother of Aquaculture and inland fishery is rela- ing capacity to progress gender equality,
two sons aged 23 and 11 who lives in Ra tively new in the Pacific with very little and promoting women’s human rights to
Province on Fiji’s main island Viti Levu. information on the division of labour and empower Pacific rural women.
She has leased 120 acres of prime land women’s role in aquaculture. The assump-
from her clan (or landing owning unit) tion, as usual, is that fish farming – is
for growing food crops and setting up her performed by men, with little help from n The Pacific Community

Islands Business, March 2018 29