A very welcome addition to the technical support for the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication – a handbook –  has just been released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  Called “Towards gender-equitable small-scale fisheries governance and development“, the handbook written by Nilanjana Biswas, of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), is a treasure trove of essential background knowledge on women, gender and small-scale fisheries, combined with practical advice and case examples on incorporating gender equality principles in small scale fisheries work. The target audience is broad – from government officers to fishers and their communities, fish worker groups and researchers, as befits a product of the very participatory development process the Handbook team took.

The Handbook is organised in 3 parts:

• Part 1: Understanding gender and the role of women in small-scale fisheries
• Part 2: Responsible fisheries and sustainable development through a gender lens
• Part 3: Ensuring an enabling environment for gender equality and supporting implementation

Among the rich and varied advice and explanatory boxes are such gems as a guide to tried and tested FAO methods for assessing post-harvest losses, and disaster response and rehabilitation issues to target to help women. Throughout, the Handbook has action points for policy-makers and for community service organisations, offering a few key tips on each subject.

A particular highlight is the set of case studies, each containing a description of the case, followed by a gender-sensitive “Let’s analyse this…” section that gets to the heart of the gender issues.

Here is the list of Case Studies:

1. Women in fishing communities on Lake Victoria
2. Tenure rights of traditional fishing communities in Raigad, India
3. Recognition of indigenous community-owned land in Nicaragua
4. War-affected women in the fishing villages of the Mannar Coast,
   Sri Lanka
5. Self-regulation by women harvesters in the Gulf of Mannar, India
6. Mandira Marine Extractive Region, Sao Paulo, Brazil
7. Transboundary issues and fishers – learning from India and Sri Lanka
8. Transboundary issues and fishers – learning from the European Union
9. Diversifying livelihoods for small-scale fishing communities in Uganda
10. Pacific Fishing Company on Levuka Island, Fiji
11. Migrant Chinese women workers employed in oyster shucking in Japan
12. Growing violence and abuse in small-scale fisheries in South Africa
13. Reclaiming the Marol fish market in Mumbai, India
14. Impact of harbour fishing on fish trade in Kerala, India
15. Impact of competition along Lake Victoria in Kenya and on inland
    fisheries in Zambia
16. Impact of industrialization on women in small-scale post-harvest
    fisheries in South Africa
17. Issues of cross-border trade for traditional women fish vendors in
    Cambodia
18. The risks of neglecting women in policy implementation
19. Post-tsunami rehabilitation in Aceh, Indonesia
20. Impact of mine pollution in Buyat Bay, Indonesia
21. Matsyafed in Kerala, India – an apex cooperative for small-scale fisheries
22. Impact of seasonal fishing ban on women fish traders in
    Puducherry, India
23. Marshall Point, a coastal indigenous fishing/farming community in
    Nicaragua
24. Women fishers fight corruption in the Sunderbans, India
25. An example of value chain analysis (VCA) (in Malawi)
26. Public hearing on issues of women in the fish trade in Kerala, India
27. Enabling women’s participation in meetings in Kigombe, the United
    Republic of Tanzania
28. Fisherwomen in Brazil organize for their rights
29. Regional Fisheries Livelihood Programme for South and Southeast
    Asia (RFLP)
30. Mainstreaming gender in the BOBLME project