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Book (stand-alone)Gender equality, social protection and rural development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Insights from the region
2016Also available in:
This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of gender equality, social protection and rural development in the region. Overall, there is a lack of research, documented knowledge and public discourse on this subject and a multi-disciplinary approa ch is necessary for ensuring an in-depth and rigorous understanding of these intersecting issues in the context of the region. In supporting this publication, the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia intends to draw attention to these issues as critical for the socio-economic development of the region, and raise greater awareness among all stakeholders and promote more research in this area. One of the main reasons why this subject remains on the periphery of research and discourse is the widespread public opinion that issues relating to gender have already been addressed and are, therefore, not priorities for rural development and social protection. Indeed, in the post-Soviet countries, women, including those located in rural areas, continue to enjoy relatively high levels of literacy and education and high economic activity rates. Furthermore, all countries, in an effort to sustain the achievements of the previous regime, have recognized the formal supremacy of internation al legal norms and UN standards, including in the area of gender equality and women’s rights. They have also been developing and implementing national policies towards achieving gender equality. However, if we look beyond the average numbers, and disaggregate available statistics by sex and by location wherever possible, we can see that in critical areas (for example, formal employment; access to social services such as childcare facilities and pensions; and participation in local governance, am ong others), rural women often emerge as the most disadvantaged group. There are also key issues, for example, access to productive resources (such as land, credits, agricultural equipment and extension services) that are of crucial importance to rural livelihoods but are not commonly viewed from a gender perspective. Across the region, women form a majority in the rural population, and a significant proportion of the labour force engaged in agriculture. However, the overarching trend in terms o f rural women’s employment is their engagement in informal, low-skilled and low-paid jobs. Women’s access to assets and productive resources is also significantly lower than that of rural men’s. Rural women’s participation in public life has reduced dramatically over the last decades, and generous social welfare is no longer a social norm. -
Book (stand-alone)A Sub-regional Analysis of the Socio-Economic situation of the Eastern Mediterranean Fisheries 2016
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No results found.Within the framework of the FAO EastMed project, a Working Group on the socio-economic analysis of the fisheries sector in the Eastern Mediterranean was conducted in Athens, Greece from the 2-6 of November 2015. The goal of the working group was to contribute to the understanding of the socio-economic situation of fishing fleets in the Eastern Mediterranean countries, with a view to support economic advice in fisheries management. This report is the result of the working group and compares selec ted fisheries socio-economic indicators, including harvesting cost structure and profitability of main fleet segments. During the working group data was compiled from the Eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine (Gaza Strip), Greece, Italy (Ionian Sea), Lebanon and Turkey. For the EU countries the data derived from the EU Data Collection Framework (2010/93/EU) was used, while for the non-EU areas the data was derived from the socio-economic surveys which are currently being co nducted within the framework of the FAO EastMed project. Data from Turkey was derived from the Turkish Statistical Institute. The data collected by both the EU and non-EU areas follow a comparable standard methodology, and using these data sets, socio-economic indicators were estimated and compared among countries and fleet segments in the region. The economic performance of 25 fleet segments from the seven areas mentioned above were analyzed and compared for the year 2012. The fisheries secto r in the region including the Black Sea Turkish production, produced a total of 581 thousand tons of seafood with an estimated value of $1.6 billion. The fishing fleet directly employed 80,017 people on a full-time basis working onboard 40,436 vessels. According to the data presented in this report, the value added generated by fisheries made up 0.05% of the total GDP generated in the region, employing less than 1% of the labour force. However, in the coastal communities of the region it repre sented an important source of employment, income and a highly valuable source of animal protein. In terms of profitability, the best performances were showed in Egypt, Lebanon and Italy, while the worst performance was found in Gaza Strip, where the activity was not profitable. In the vast majority of the fleet segments analysed, crew members are paid with a share system where the running costs are subtracted from the revenues before allocating the shares to the crew members and to the owner. Th e salary per fisher compared to the minimum wage of the manufacturing sector, was lower in Gaza and Lebanon, and higher in Egypt. The ratio of energy costs to operating costs showed the highest value in the fleets operating in Gaza, where energy costs are at an unsustainable level, which is detrimental with respect to the salaries of the workers and the remuneration of the investments. The fuel efficiency showed the highest values in Turkey, and the lowest in Italy where all the fleet segments s cored an extremely low value. The comparison of the breakdown of the cost factors showed that labour and energy were in general the primary costs associated with fishing, although their proportion varies among countries, depending on many factors, such as the fleet structure, the harvesting methods and the fuel subsidies/taxes. In general, vessels using active fishing gears (i.e. trawlers) are more dependent on fuel and have the energy costs accounting for a larger proportion of the operational costs while, for the artisanal vessels using passive gears, labour represents the larger proportion of the operational costs. Salaries can absorb as much as half of the total operating costs in small-scale fisheries, with the exceptions of Gaza and Turkey where the labour costs were below 20%. -
Book (stand-alone)Contribution of the forest sector to total employment in national economies
Estimating the number of people employed in the forest sector
2022Also available in:
No results found.Forests and the forest sector are important sources of employment, livelihoods and incomes for millions across the globe, particularly in rural areas. They provide jobs in a wide range of activities related to sustainable forest management, the provision and production of timber and other wood and non-wood forest products, the protection of forest ecosystems and biodiversity, and safeguarding the benefits of forests. Despite the relevance of forests for employment and income generation, limited quantitative information is currently available on the subject. This lack of data makes it challenging to quantify the number of people employed in the forest sector, and their contribution to global employment. Notwithstanding, estimating forest-related employment involves methodological challenges such as the standardization and comparability of data collected, as well as the availability of reliable and detailed employment statistics. This study employs a new method to fill the gaps of missing data points in order to provide sound total employment estimates in the forest sector on a global scale.
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