Ken Keller's 2013 Aquaculture and Gender empowerment presentation at the NCGE 2013, Economic Geography APHG strand

1. Gender Empowerment
in Agriculture and
Development:
A Case Study usingAquaculture
Ken Keller
NCGE Denver 2013
kkeller1976@comcast.net
Kenneth.keller@cobbk12.org

2. Lesson Overview
Summary:
In this lesson, students will examine how empowering women in aquaculture can lead to positive
outcomes for gender equity and a state’s overall level of development.
Unit:
Unit V (Agriculture, Food production and Rural land Use)
Unit VI (Industrialization and Economic Development)
Connections to APHG Course Outline:
V. Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use
C. Rural land use and settlement patterns
1. Models of agricultural land use
2. Settlement patterns associated with major agriculture types: fishing and aquaculture
4. Roles of women in agricultural production and farming communities
VI. Industrialization and Economic Development
B. Social and economic measures of development
3. Gender Inequality Index
C. Contemporary patterns and impacts of industrialization and development
1. Spatial organization of the world economy
2. Variations in levels of development (uneven development)
6. Sustainable development
8. Women in development and gender equity in the workforce

3. Essential Questions and Objectives
Essential Questions:
1. What role do women play in agricultural production in different
parts of the world?
2. What resources are needed to empower women in the field of
agriculture?
3. What is the impact economically, socially, politically, and
environmentally in empowering women in the field of
agriculture?
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to explain the difference in women’s
involvement in agriculture in LDCs and MDCs.
2. Students will be able to explain how gender empowerment
reduces a state’s level of gender inequality using the case study
of Bangladesh women in aquaculture.

4. Class Brainstorm #1:
What is Gender Inequality?
• Men and women are not equal
• Rubenstein: “The UN has not found a single country in the
world where women are treated as well as the men… The UN
argues that inequality between men and women is a major
factor that keeps a country from achieving a high level of
development.”
• Hillary Clinton on Gender inequality from Half the Sky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ8XwFMG5c8
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

5. Class Brainstorm #2:
What is Gender Empowerment?
• Rubenstein: “…empowerment refers to the ability of women
to achieve improvements in their own status – that is, to
achieve economic and political power.”
• Used by the UN as part of the Gender Inequality Index:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/gii/
• Empowerment involves:
1. Level of education
2. Number of legislative seats held by women
Sheryl WuDunn on gender empowerment. TED talk : Our century’s
greatest injustice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFgPtuzgw4o

6. GEM ~ Gender Empowerment Measure
• Part of the Human Development Index
• Examines the extent to which women and men
are able to actively participate in economic and
political life and take part in decision-making
• More Power  Higher level of Development

7. To the Maps!
1. Women in Agriculture
2. LDCs and MDCs
3. Gender Empowerment
What connections can you make
between these maps?
http://www.worldmapper.org/
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/cdp/ldc/profile/

8. Map 1: Women in Agriculture

9. Map 2: Map of LDCs and MDCs

10. Map 3: Gender Empowerment

11. What the UN might say…
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDM828TpVpY

12. Women and Aquaculture

13. Collaborative Group Activity:
Case Study Analysis
• Focus Question:
How will empowerment in small-scale agriculture result
in decreasing gender inequality and impact the
development of a nation?
• Small Group Work:
1. ESPeN Preparation including Gapminder Data Collection Evidence
2. ESPeN Talking Head Analysis of Bangladesh
3. Flow Chart Creation
(Small Scale Agriculture  Gender Equality)

14. Whole-Class Debrief
Howdoes yourgroupsflowchartcompareto theone
createdbytheresearchers?

15. What resources are needed to
empower women in aquaculture?

16. Whatis the impact
Economically,Socially,Politically, and
eNvironmentallyin empoweringwomenin the
field of agriculture?

17. Synapse Questions
1. What are the long-term effects on development with training
women in the field of agriculture? Remember ESPeN! List at least
two for each category.
2. How are gender equity and economic development related?
3. Are women’s activities in aquaculture sustainable?
4. Explain how each of the following individuals (or models )would
respond to the case study results in Bangladesh:
A. Judith Carney
B. E. Adamson Hoebel
C. Demographic Transition Model
D. Johann Heinrich von Thunen

18. TED talk on Sustainable
Aquaculture.
How I fell in love with a fish 
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love
_with_a_fish.html