Home to beautiful beaches and stunning ocean scenery, Rote Ndao is located along the southernmost edge of Indonesia. But even here, in one of Indonesia’s outermost islands and most remote destinations, Covid-19 has impacted communities’ physical and financial health. During a recent GESI survey, it was discovered that the pandemic has severely affected the economic conditions of households in this region and women are bearing the brunt; a situation that has been exacerbated by the recent Seroja cyclone.
Since the beginning of August 2021, The GEF/UNDP/PEMSEA ATSEA-2 National Coordination Unit (NCU) of Indonesia initiated the Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) survey in three different project sites, namely Rote Ndao, Merauke and the Aru Archipelago. The purpose of this survey is primarily to gather important information relating to gender and social inclusion to support future implementation of ATSEA-2 programmes in the region. Rote Ndao has a population of 143,155 people, which is evenly split between men and women. This survey aims at identifying the challenges faced by both men and women, along with minorities in the fisheries sector sphere in Rote Ndao.
Erma Normasari is the Field Facilitator for NCU Indonesia. She has been living in Rote Ndao, conducting the GESI survey with the help of the Fisheries Department of Rote Ndao. “The survey was made possible because every participant from Rote Ndao showed great enthusiasm and seemed happy to share their personal situation related to income and family customs,” says Erma.
Nationally, around 1.3 million people in Indonesia are expected to be pushed into poverty due to Covid-19 (Suryahadi et al, 2020). At the local level, the survey also revealed the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on household socio-economic conditions in the region; in an interview carried out by Erma as part of the GESI survey, at least one respondent, who works as a fishmonger, stated that their daily income has decreased on average by over 50%, down from Rp.100k to Rp.40k. In addition, because of the pandemic, fewer people are catching, selling and buying fish. The respondent also commented that, because they had to care for a relative who had fallen ill, the amount of time they had for carrying out economic activities was also limited.
According to the survey results, all respondents’ incomes have been affected, to some degree, by the Covid-19 pandemic in Rote Ndao. Participants noted that their earnings have suffered a drop of around 50%-70% since the pandemic began. Loss of livelihood has impacted incomes and invariably caused respondents to feel less secure in their communities.
On the bright side, respondents in Rote Ndao claimed to have had more assistance from their husbands and/or other household members. This is mainly because the kinship system in rural areas is stronger than in urban areas. However, the burden still falls on women, which may contribute to higher rates of stress and anxiety among women.
Such disruption caused by the Covid-19 crisis makes it imperative for the ATSEA-2 Programme to navigate a rapidly shifting and increasingly challenging situation. With the decrease of income-generating activities, farmers and fishers need a comprehensive and diverse set of skills to reduce post-harvest losses. Activities should place an emphasis on training for home-based small businesses run by women, along with capacity building for gender empowerment and community welfare in the district through seaweed. This includes improved market access for seaweed farmers, particularly for seaweed growing and/or processing enterprises run by women.
ATSEA-2 is committed to safeguarding the livelihoods and prosperity of coastal people, particularly in transboundary areas, through the implementation of sustainable integrated concepts. Since its inception in 2019, the programme has been working to promote sustainable development in the ATS region and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants through a combination of restoration, conservation and sustainable management of marine-coastal ecosystems.
Contribution by Nathazha Bostanova Eunike Sipasulta
About the ATSEA-2 Programme
ATSEA-2 is the second phase of the Arafura & Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) programme; a regional partnership involving the governments of Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea, with the support of the Australian Government. Its objective is to collectively manage high marine and fisheries resources in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region. Since its inception in 2019, the programme has been working to promote sustainable development in the ATS region and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants through a combination of restoration, conservation and sustainable management of marine-coastal ecosystems. The ATS is an area of high productivity in the region and ATSEA-2 is committed to safeguarding the livelihoods and prosperity of coastal people, particularly in its transboundary areas, through the implementation of sustainable integrated concepts. ATSEA-2 is a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded programme, managed and executed under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) Resource Facility (PRF) is an implementing partner.
For more information on the ATSEA-2 programme, please contact the Regional Project Manager, Handoko Adi Susanto (hasusanto@pemsea.org), visit the project page on iwlearn.net or the project website.
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