Training of Trainers - Library - Network of Aquaculture Centres in ...

take in to consideration of the women needs like scheduling the training that is convenient to them, arranging thevenue that is closer to their families, needs of the children when mother has to attend the training, etc.(Nandeesha et.al., 1994; Nandeesha, 2004) Most importantly, the educational level of women in most of thecountries being low , the trainings need to consider this aspect and organize trainings that provide an opportunityto learn by doing. Considerable success has been achieved in designing the tactile tools to educate men andwomen with low literacy level or illiterates in Bangladesh (Shelly, et.al, 2001; Debashish, et.al., 2001).(b) Enhance access to water resourcesLandless women were encouraged to undertake cage farming of fish by creating an opportunity to have access toopen water bodies in Bangladesh. This was considered as one of the major accomplishments since in Bangladeshthere are many open water bodies that can be made available. However, this cage culture activity is yet to beseen as a sustainable activity being carried out by women due to various other social and technical constraints.Women were also successfully organized in to groups and encouraged them to undertake aquaculture activity bytaking ponds on lease (Nathan and Apu, 1998). Though initially many hurdles were faced to procure access towater, consistent efforts have led to involve them actively in pond culture programs in Bangladesh. In thisconservative society, today many women can be seen involved in pond fish culture activity, particularly in carryingout all the activities by themselves from stocking to harvesting and marketing. In most cultures, land ownership isheld by men. Though this cultural pattern will require time and appropriate policy changes to give ownership toboth men and women, the major hurdle faced in many areas for aquaculture development is the multipleownership of pond and multiple use of pond. Development interventions must take these factors in toconsideration and introduce appropriate technologies that will survive under these circumstances.(c) Enhance access to creditAquaculture activity to be successful, provision of adequate input is critical. While some on-farm resources couldbe used in aquaculture, considerable amount of off-farm input needs to be purchased in most cases. Hence,provision of credit along with appropriate training is essential to ensure that family derives benefits from theactivity. Self help groups established in many Asian countries have contributed very effectively to aquacultureactivities. Keeping the groups intact over longer period of time and developing leaders to take on the leadershipare the major constraints. In addition, aquaculture crops in most cases requiring longer growth phase, most creditsystems available in different countries do not suit well to aquaculture crops. In Bangladesh, efforts have beenmade to evolve credit systems that take in to consideration of this longer gestation period of crops (Nandeesha,2004).(d) Enhance access to female extension staffTo increase communication between women farmer and the extension personnel, it is recognized that in manycultures that it is desirable to have women staff. Large scale experimentation by CARE Bangladesh in theconservative Society by aiming to have almost 1:1 ratio of male and female extension staff resulted in the highlevel impact of the project programs. Particularly, in the conservative areas, having female staff helped in a bigway to change the perception of the people. While having gender balanced staff is bound to help in many waysand it is essential, the experience of the CARE projects in Bangladesh indicate that once the confidence of thecommunity is gained, both men and women extension person are accepted by the community and women willhave no difficulty to share the information with men (Debashish, et. al., 2001)(e) Change in organisational cultureMost organizations are dominated by men and many of them are yet to be aware of the gender issues because ofthe cultural inheritance, particularly in Asia. As a result, with lack of knowledge and experience in gender, genderblind policies and interventions are common. Even in Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam wherein women constitute135