The seaweed value chain through a gender lens: A gender inclusive value chain?

The role of women is key to achieving sustainable growth in the seaweed sector. The food security-gender nexus in the seaweed industry is critical considering that women constitute a disproportionately large percentage of the people engaged in the informal, lowest paid, least stable, and least skilled segments of the workforce. In aquaculture, women comprise 28 per cent of the workforce within the primary sector; within fisheries, this figure is 18 per cent. Spanning both the pre- and post-harvest stages of the value chain, their participation reaches an estimated 50 per cent (FAO, 2022). Beyond their pivotal role in coastal rural economies, women play a substantial part in ensuring household food security and nutritional wellbeing, all the while managing domestic and caregiving responsibilities.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality

Climate Action

Life Below Water