Challenging The “Man” In Mangroves: The Missing Role Of Women In Mangrove Conservation

Mangroves provide valuable ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, pollution filtration, and protection from tsunamis, tropical storms, and coastal erosion. They also supply coastal communities with important natural resources like firewood, medicine, timber, honey, and fodder for livestock. Unfortunately, the world’s mangroves are rapidly degrading due to rising coastal population, climate change, and destruction for coastal development, agriculture, and aquaculture. Considering their value for the environment and coastal communities, mangrove conservation should become a priority and effort must be invested to find new and successful methods for conserving mangrove ecosystems. As it has proven effective in other conservation contexts, a gendered perspective on mangrove conservation should be adopted. Through review and synthesis of existing literature on gender and mangrove conservation, this paper will show the extent to which gender analysis has been used to examine mangrove conservation and coastal resource management. It will describe the following trends in literature: a) a lack of research focusing on gender’s role in mangrove conservation, b) confusion about the practical applications of a gender, environment, and development (GED) conceptual framework c) little effort to evaluate the success of programs that integrate gender and mangrove conservation. It will make suggestions for future research and encourage further use of a gendered outlook on mangrove conservation and resource management

The Strong Silent Type

Speak up. Be assertive. Lean in. Take up space. However it’s said, there is a stream of discourse telling women that we should be louder and prouder in order to succeed. As the argument goes, we, as women, are silenced by oppression. Society tells us to be quiet, politely agree, and make ourselves as small as possible. So naturally, we should resist this social pressure by being more vocal, more extroverted, and more assertive. [excerpt

Exploring Relationships between Global, National and Local Actors: A Case Study Approach to INGOs in Post-Reform Vietnam

In 1986, the Vietnamese government undertook a series of reforms known as doi moi. These reforms were mainly economic adjustments that encouraged globalization through capitalism, international trade, and foreign investment. They restructured Vietnam’s economy from a centrally-planned system to a market economy with a socialist orientation. This study focuses on the political and cultural aspects of globalization after doi moi, and analyzes the development of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in Vietnam. Specifically, it seeks to address the following research question: How has the INGO sector changed with increasing globalization in Vietnam after the 1986 doi moi reforms, and what are the national and local challenges to INGOs currently operating in Vietnam? As a case study, this study specifically examines an environmental INGO called Project Gaia, Inc. (PGI) that works in the developing world to replace polluting biomass fuels, with clean-burning, sustainable, alcohol fuels and stoves. Using the theoretical concepts of “dis-embedding” and “re-embedding” this study illuminates the challenges that PGI might face in Vietnam, but also highlights the potential for their approach to create positive impact. Overall, the study shows that in Vietnam, a country where the forces of “dis-embedding” and “re-embedding” interact, there are both challenges to operating an INGO, and great opportunities to form collaborative partnerships for change

International Non-Governmental Organizations in Vietnam: A Case Study with Project Gaia

In 1986, the Vietnamese government undertook a series of reforms known as doi moi. These reforms were mainly economic adjustments that encouraged globalization through capitalism, international trade, and foreign investment. They restructured Vietnam’s economy from a centrally-planned system to a market economy with a socialist orientation. This presentation focuses on the political and cultural aspects of globalization after doi moi, and analyzes the development of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in Vietnam. Specifically, it seeks to address the following research question: How has the INGO sector changed with increasing globalization in Vietnam after the 1986 doi moi reforms, and what are the national and local challenges to INGOs currently operating in Vietnam? As a case study, this presentation looks specifically at an environmental INGO called Project Gaia, Inc. (PGI) that works in the developing world to replace polluting biomass fuels, with clean-burning, sustainable, alcohol fuels and stoves. It illuminates the institutional and societal challenges that PGI might face in Vietnam, and the ways that that their international approach might be received by local people

Carbon, Cookstoves, and Kitchens: Case Studies of Fuelwood Use and the Potential for Ethanol Substitutability in Rural India, Vietnam, and Tanzania

Fuelwood constitutes the primary domestic cooking fuel in many rural communities throughout the Global South. Unsustainable levels of fuelwood consumption, however, contribute not only to local forest degradation but also to global climate change through the release of black carbon and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Moreover, as a driver of indoor air pollution, it also negatively affects human health. Indoor air pollution linked to cooking smoke is among the leading causes of preventable respiratory disease, and negatively impacts women and children through disproportionate and repeated exposure. While many cleaner and more efficient alternate stove designs have been developed for use in fuelwood-dependent communities, culturally-based user incompatibilities and technical design problems can lead to lack of widespread adoption. Although fuelwood dependence has also been offset by the availability of subsidized commercially-available fuels such as kerosene or liquid petroleum gas (LPG), the need persists for a clean, efficient, locally available, and sustainable fuel source for use in household cooking. This poster presents the results of three related, pilot project case studies about the potential for alcohol-fueled stoves to serve as a pathway to fuelwood substitution. The poster explores questions of cultural feasibility and the related roles of gender/class/ethnicity dynamics within a community, cooking and fuel preferences of stove users, and religious considerations related to non-consumptive alcohol use. Our study raises important issues for advocates of alternative technologies to consider, including the potential for resource capture by elites, openings for promotion of gender equity, and opportunities for socially and environmentally sustainable development

The VACB Model in Hòa An Village and Xeo Trâm Hamlet: Comparison and Analysis through a Gendered Lens

Burning fuel-wood, a method of traditional cooking practiced by half of all homes in Vietnam (Global Alliance for Clean Cook-stoves 2012) and the majority of homes in Hòa An Village and Xeo Trâm Hamlet, has significant negative consequences in terms of environmental and personal health. In Hòa An Village and Xeo Trâm Hamlet, as is true in much of Vietnam, gender roles dictate that women should be primarily responsible for household chores like cooking (World Bank 2001, Nguyen 2012, Nguyen 2012, Vo 2012). This means that women must often deal directly with the environmental dangers and safety hazards of woodstoves. As environmentally sustainable and safe cooking methods are implemented in Hòa An, Xeo Trâm and elsewhere, it is vital that women’s first-hand knowledge, ideas and opinions are considered in the process. This study will use the lens of gender to examine a common method for sustainable fuel use promoted throughout Hòa An and Xeo Trâm: the VACB model. VACB is an integrated farming system that includes a garden (vườn), fish pond (ao), pigs or poultry (chuồng), and biogas. Through a series of interviews and surveys and a case study using gender analysis in Xeo Trâm Hamlet, this study seeks to answer the following specific questions: 1.) How do men and women participate in traditional woodstove cooking? How does the VACB system affect these traditional gender roles? 2.) Does the VACB model meet the needs of both men and women? How do men and women in Hòa An Village and Xeo Trâm Hamlet perceive this model? 3.) Is the VACB model implemented in a way that considers the opinions of men and women? Gender analysis reveals that complex variables, including not only gender but education level, age, health, geographic location, and land holdings, influence perception of the VACB model and needs in terms of sustainable cooking. It also shows that people from the Xeo Trâm Hamlet, and women in particular, are marginalized from the implementation of the VACB model and systems for sustainable fuel use. Ultimately, this study demonstrates the importance of the insights provided by marginalized men and women in Xeo Trâm and concludes that dedication to gender and social equity is necessary for the success of systems for sustainable fuel use and cooking