{"id":149510,"date":"2019-09-27T15:22:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T19:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/?p=149510"},"modified":"2019-09-30T16:16:07","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T20:16:07","slug":"the-art-and-science-of-gender-mainstreaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/publications\/aboard-gso\/issues\/summer-2019\/the-art-and-science-of-gender-mainstreaming\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art and Science of Gender Mainstreaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Art and Science of Gender Mainstreaming<\/h1>

Experts at GSO\u2019s Coastal Resources Center promote growth, one woman at a time.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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It was the early 2000s in Zanzibar, and the intertidal zones were under stress. For ages, the women of Fumba Peninsula had waded into the shallow waters of the Menai Bay Conservation Area to collect oysters and cockles to sell and to feed their families. But overfishing of the deeper waters led to poverty, which drove greater numbers of women to the reef flats. The numbers of these mollusks became depleted. The food security of families was threatened. The coastal biodiversity was at risk.<\/p>\n

It was a complex problem steeped in generations of gender norms, policy and practice. However, there was a potential solution that on the face of it seemed deceptively simple: \u201chalf pearls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff from the University of Rhode Island\u2019s GSO\u2019s Coastal Resource Center (CRC) were brought into the region by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). They studied the issues and developed initiatives aimed at rebuilding the stocks. They tapped an expert who trained community leaders to cultivate half pearls, called mabes, by gluing buttons on the inside of oysters. They also taught them to make mother of pearl jewelry from the oyster shells. The mabes could be sold for up to $40 each, and the shell jewelry would fetch up to $10\u2014a considerable amount given that the average monthly income for a woman in Zanzibar was between $15 and $20.<\/p>\n

Cultivating half pearls is time consuming\u2014it takes six to 12 months for an oyster to form a mabe. But that was the point. The protected oysters would be left alone to regenerate. The new income stream would ease the financial pressure on the women and provide incentive to protect the oyster stocks.<\/p>\n

The mollusk collectors, or \u201cgleaners,\u201d were provided lessons in entrepreneurship and given access to micro-credit to purchase supplies.<\/p>\n