Gender Assessment and Action Plan For the GCF-FAO Project “Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement”

The report assesses the socioeconomic conditions of women and youth in The Gambia's fishery and agriculture sectors to inform a gender-responsive climate resilience project. It identifies significant barriers for women, including widespread illiteracy, limited decision-making power, and restricted access to productive assets, which hinder their ability to adapt to climate change. While women dominate the fishery labor force (approximately 80%), they are largely confined to low-profit domestic markets. The document outlines a Gender Action Plan to improve decision-making parity, provide literacy and numeracy training, and implement safeguards against sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) and gender-based violence (GBV).

• Women constitute approximately 80% of the labor force in The Gambia's fishery sector, but their roles are gender-differentiated; they are excluded from marine resource capture except for shellfish and are primarily engaged in processing and selling for the domestic market, which has lower profit margins than export markets.
• Widespread illiteracy among women creates significant barriers to accessing the formal sector, export markets, and financial services, often forcing them to cede treasurer positions in their organizations to men.
• Despite economic contributions, women face severe social barriers and gender-based violence; nearly 50% of Gambian women believe husbands are justified in beating them under certain conditions, and 75.7% of women and girls aged 15-49 had undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 2018.
• Climate change impacts are more severe for women due to a lack of literacy and numeracy skills, which limits their ability to conceive strategic adaptation actions and reduces their overall adaptation capacity.
• Women's access to productive resources is highly restricted; they generally do not own or inherit land, and access is granted through male family members. They are often allocated the least attractive infrastructure and lack access to formal credit.
• Female youth with intermediate education face higher unemployment rates than male youth with the same education level and are particularly vulnerable to poverty and patriarchy.
• The Gambian legal system is a hybrid of English law, customary law, and shari a, which often creates contradictions with international treaties like CEDAW, particularly regarding inheritance and marriage rights.
• Women in the fishery sector are aware that mangroves are essential for their livelihoods, yet many continue to harvest them for fuel and roofing despite government fines.
• To mitigate risks and empower women, the project will use a 'household methodology' to facilitate dialogues between spouses and community gatekeepers to create a common vision for the family and challenge gender norms.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2022). Gender Assessment and Action Plan For the GCF-FAO Project “Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement”. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ga-fp188.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Gender Assessment and Action Plan For the GCF-FAO Project “Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement”. 2022. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ga-fp188.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Gender Assessment and Action Plan For the GCF-FAO Project “Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement” |date=13 September 2022 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ga-fp188.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2022gender, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Gender Assessment and Action Plan For the GCF-FAO Project “Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement”}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ga-fp188.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }