African aquaculture is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade, creating opportunities for sustainable development and achieving gender equity. However, due to the marginalised position of most African women in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, explicit gender mainstreaming strategies are vital for achieving an equitable distribution of resources and opportunity. A major challenge is that gender issues remain poorly understood, and hence most strategies aimed at addressing gender equity within an aquaculture development context are insufficient. The present paper presents insights into complexity and challenges of gender mainstreaming in a natural resource management context, drawing on insights from a gender-focused workshop aimed at fostering deeper learning and critical thinking about gender. The responses of the participants (natural resource management academics and development practitioners) illustrate that gender is a sensitive and complex topic, presenting multiple challenges which need to be recognised and addressed in the formulation of gender mainstreaming strategies. It was found that (i) Diverse perspectives may lead to disagreements and discomfort; (ii) Discussions on gender often evoke strong emotional responses related to self-identity, societal expectations, and personal experiences; (iii) Conversations about inequalities and power imbalances may provoke defensiveness among those benefiting from privileges; (iv) Historical contexts of gender discrimination can be triggering for survivors; (v) Academics may hesitate to engage openly due to fears of causing offense, leading to superficial dialogues; (vi) The evolving conversation around diverse gender identities may cause confusion and discomfort for some; and (vii) Engaging in these discussions can make academic teams feel vulnerable, creating tension in professional settings.
Raising awareness and providing gender education are crucial for fostering a culture of gender responsiveness and sustainability. In this context, higher education stakeholders, alongside governments, private sector actors, civil society, and local communities, have significant roles to play in establishing normative approaches for gender mainstreaming. However, many higher education institutions in Africa appear to be in the early stages of establishing benchmarks and metrics for tracking progress and enhancing gender strategies.
This paper concludes that higher education and development institutions have considerable work to do to effectively integrate gender considerations into the development agenda. Systematic changes across these institutions are required to embed gender considerations into their core operations and formulation of policies, strategies and programs. It is thus essential that academics and development practitioners in the aquaculture and fisheries sector are educated to understand the complexity of gender issues and are equipped with skills to design effective gender inclusion strategies.