Sustainable Development and Gender Hierarchies: Extension for Semi-Subsistence Fish Farming in Tabasco, Mexico

Abstract

The establishment of subsistence aquaculture has been heralded as a means of achieving environmental and social sustainability as it is seen to augment farm livelihoods by supplementing household subsistence needs and providing a cash income at critical points in the agricultural calendar at the same time. Yet gender processes within this sector are little understood and have received little attention within literature on natural resource management. Research in Tabasco, Mexico suggests very different perceptions towards subsistence aquaculture between different family members—women and men, adults and children—that reflect the gendering of livelihoods in rural Mexico. This article points out that an appreciation of the different meanings of fish farming for different family members and its gendered micro-geography are key issues in understanding the relative successes and failures in recent extension efforts, where historically government institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have worked with individuals and groups of (usually men) farmers rather than family groups.