Rules, Roles and Rights: Gender, Participation and Community Fisheries Management in Cambodia's Tonle Sap Region

Abstract

In the Tonle Sap Region, Community Fisheries (CFs) have been recently constituted by the Cambodian Government to address the needs for local and sustainable management of fisheries resources. Local women are being urged to participate in these institutions by various state and non-state programmes. However, actual social conditions and practices of people demonstrate that women are not actively involved in de facto fisheries management with its complex mosaic of rules, rights and roles. Inserting women into this programme by only addressing poverty reduction and conservation goals without recognizing actual gender/social inequalities, may inadvertently reproduce existing gender hierarchies instead of actually transforming them.

Acknowledgement

This work has received funding from the Academy of Finland Project 211010.

Notes

1. Gender-responsiveness in the fisheries sector has been expressed in the context of poverty reduction goals: “Reduce the incidence of poverty among vulnerable groups of society, including women, in fisheries communities”. This is Goal No. 3 in the Master Plan for Fisheries, 2001–2011 of the Department of Fisheries (RCG, 2001). This goal also coincides with other programme objectives and issues formulated by multilateral, state and non-state programmes on fisheries in the Tonle Sap to be discussed in a later section.

2. The first conceptual approach is the ‘women, environment and development’ (WED) approach, which basically argues that women are more dependent on environmental resources due to their principal role in reproductive work. The second strand of women-and-environment thought influential in gender planning for sustainable development is eco-feminism, developed from a Third World perspective that posits women's close relationship with nature and argues for women's chief role in the conservation and management of natural resources. Both approaches have come under question in the last decade.

3. Jackson (2000, p. 40) adds quite succinctly: that gender concerns are justified by the World Bank and others with reference to economic growth, poverty reduction; UNFPA justifies gender in relation to population control and environmental agencies in terms of environmental management and conservation. Thus women are now a means of controlling population, of achieving sustainable development, of poverty alleviation. All these, as well as their caring tasks in households.

4. Jackson (1998) shows how women from various contexts deliberately evade participation in water resources management because it means more work and paying more fees.

5. Krom Samaki or ‘solidarity or collective group’ was led by one leader. It was created by the Kampuchean regime for people to help each other, especially disabled people and widows, in fisheries and agriculture. It consists of about 50 members from about 12 households. The Krom Samaki was also envisaged for redistribution of resources.

6. Personal communication.

7. Only family-type fishing gear is allowed in the Tonle Sap community fisheries area (outside fishing lots) as per the draft sub-decree on Community Fisheries (RCG, 2003).

8. The source is Heng Samay's survey data on 31 households.

9. Masters' student currently doing research on Tonle Sap.