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In order to develop strategies to support the aquaculture industry in Samoa, an extensive gender analysis was undertaken collaboratively by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Government of Samoa through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry for Women, Community and Social Development. Data were collected via time use surveys, discussion focus groups and individual interviews to determine the type of roles, and forms of contribution to individual aquaculture farms undertaken by women and men. Our study found that both women and men contributed to aquaculture farming, although the value women assigned to their contribution, although time-consuming and extensive, was often lower relative to men. We have also found that by training and mentoring fisheries officers to conduct the research, these officers have become more aware of womens’ substantial contribution to the sector. There are now plans to adjust training programs to reflect this new knowledge.

Progressing gender equality objectives in development and research for development activities can be an uneven process, and this is certainly the case in the South Pacific. In this chapter, we deconstruct the six case studies featured in this book to discuss the common stumbling points, obstructions and pathways to gender equality and equity observed across the case study projects, but additionally through our collective experiences of living and/or working extensively in the South Pacific. This chapter serves to synthesise these findings. The authors propose that situating gender equality into a broader framing of social equality, by drawing on the concept of intersectionality, provides a necessary context for the design and implementation of development projects – particularly where project participants are from communities with strong customary orientation. We additionally outline the fluid nature of changing gender roles and stereotypes as project teams and project participants simultaneously negotiate the tension created by modernity and tradition.