Applying a Gender Transformative Approach

within a harvesting technology for women

Afrina Choudhury , Mozammel Hoque Bhuiya , Fayzur Rahman

• USAID-funded Aquaculture for Income and Nutrition (AIN) project in 18 villages in Barisal region, Southwest Bangladesh

• AIN engages with women to promote carp/tilapia+mola polyculture in homestead ponds

• Mola is rich in micronutrients

• Women don’t usually catch fish (socio-cultural & technical reasons); rely on men

• Women find it difficult to catch mola (eg: nets not suitable for them or nets are not suitable to catch these small fish with)

Background

Research project

Rationale:• Designing technologies for women may create new roles and avail

new or existing opportunities and benefits• But technical feasibility may not create or trickle down to social

acceptance• Need to understand and address the social and gender relations

that shape how women and men adopt, use and adapt these technologies.

• Need for dissemination strategies that lead to uptake, sustained use and equitable development outcomes around consumption, decision making and…

Research question: What are the effects on gender attitudes, intra-household decision making and technology adoption (use) of household- and community-scale gender transformative strategies being combined with woman-targeted harvesting technology dissemination?

Purpose is to understand:

• Attitudes about men’s and women’s accepted behavior at the community level

• Utility of the gill net in meeting local women’s needs• Impact of women being able to catch mola frequently• Impacts of household gender awareness strategies on

adoption of gill net, consumption of nutritious fish and empowerment indicators

• Impacts of community-scale gender awareness strategies on attitudes, adoption and empowerment indicators

Interventions

• Fish harvesting technology (gill net) designed for women to enable frequent harvesting of nutrient-rich mola from homestead ponds: assessing effect on consumption

• Gender consciousness-raising exercises (Household) to reduce normative barriers to women harvesting: pilot testing. Adapted from HKI’s Nurturing Connections manual

• Gender consciousness-raising exercises (Community) to reduce normative barriers: pilot testing

Addressing dimensions of power

Agency, Relations and Structures

Multi-scale GTA approach used

At the household level, tools used include ‘hopes & fears’, demonstrating and building trust, ‘power hierarchies’, access to nutrition, obstacles to change, ‘who decides’, and exploring gendered behavior.

At the community level, tools used include ‘hopes & fears’, ‘looking at our attitudes’, ‘acting like a man/woman’, ‘how will we empower each other’, gender equality solutions, ‘the man box’ (masculinities) and a historical timeline of gender changes.

• Longitudinal designs (before versus after)• Treatment versus control

Tools:• Household GTA pilot: Baseline and endline

using adapted WEAI indicators • (n=144 HH, all who received aquaculture

training: 86 with nets + GTA; 58 nets only; 49 no nets)

• Community GTA pilot: Before & after gender attitude surveys with community members • (10 villages treatment, n=251 resp; 8

villages control, n=207resp)• Both (upcoming): qualitative focus groups &

interviews

Evaluating gender change

Consumption study

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of women’s use of the mola gill net on the frequency of mola consumption

66 control (non gill net group) and 95 treatment (gill net group)

Weekly panel data collected over 6 months

Preliminary findingsA man will be considered less of a man if his wife catches fish

• GTA integration has helped explore and address the social and gender attitudes and beliefs that prescribe women’s roles

• Technologies conducive for women can prompt independent involvement and decision making

• Women report the positive influence the involvement of their spouse and family members had on their adoption

• Data shows some positive change in aquaculture-related decision making, gender attitudes and self-efficacy—as well as consumption (1.2 times higher)

Either a man or a women could successfully operate or manage a fish pond

Average nearly double the mola consumption in experiment group(N=95) than the control group(N=66)

Average times of mola consumption

HDDS in almost all months was higher in experiment group(N=95) than the control group(N=66)

Weekly Trend of Household Dietary Diversity Score

Thank You