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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.

In recent years there has been a push from policymakers and the broader development arena on women’s economic empowerment (WEE). The drive to mainstream gender and strengthen focus on WEE in market systems programming took force in 2003; however, the approach to systematically integrate WEE into implementation, monitoring and results measurement is fairly recent. The Market Development Facility (MDF) programme is one such programme that has developed a WEE framework that is integrated into all aspects of project development across a range of different socio-economic contexts. It not only looks at addressing WEE constraints as relevant but also seeks to draw out and align the incentives of the private sector to do so. The Fiji Bula Coffee case study demonstrates this and highlights the findings on WEE, specifically on women’s access, agency and their influence on social norms in rural Fijian communities.

Qualitative and quantitative data were collected over consecutive field studies conducted over a four-year period beginning in 2015. In-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were used to interview a total of 69 community members across five communities in the Sigatoka highlands. Findings reveal that women in rural coffee-supplying communities have equal access to income-generating activities and are able to make decisions on the income earned from coffee harvesting. Income is used for education and a portion is put aside as savings. ‘Women’s voice’ through collective action and decision-making is also discussed, where through a female champion, who in this case was the chief’s wife, women in the community were enabled to continue supplying coffee cherries and earning additional income for their families, despite the ban that was initially put in place by the chief.