Participation of Women in Aquaculture in Three Coastal Districts of Bangladesh: Approaches Toward Sustainable Livelihood

Women’s contribution to small-scale aquaculture is often unrecognized and the real benefits from their involvement in activity are not objectively assessed. The present study focused on the women’s participation in Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) assisted small scale aquaculture projects in three coastal Districts of Bangladesh. The findings reveal that in most projects women’s role is significant. Women have more knowledge in terms of the management of the production for example, scheduling, harvesting, feeding frequency, removal of unused feeds, etc. Women also have been found directly involved in preparation of cage and maintenance, identification of male and female prawn, procuring of good quality seed and stocking of fish. Women in some programs are also found to be selling fish on their own. Most of the women sell by the farm-gate, local bazaar and to the middlemen. The most important positive aspect of change is that now women participants’ family income has increased which is mostly used for food, health and education. Women’s participation in project, according to the findings, ensures certain extent of social and economic empowerment in the rural societies. The present fisheries project fails to take into account how the women participants are going to continue when projects are withdrawn. Women would like to be engaged in aquaculture after the project support is withdrawn though there is not much scope for savings which could be used as investment to continue their involvement. However, they expressed that they would like to sustain through NGO loan, local moneylender and petty personal savings.