The main income from Bulukumba’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) relies on agriculture and plantation. The ocean and fisheries sector not yet become source of its GRDP. Meanwhile the economic activities of those coastal sub-districts area dominated in fishery catching, Aquaculture (fishpond) and seaweed farming.
Central Statistics Agency of Bulukumba data shows that total population of the district in 2016 is 410.485 people; including 194.013 men and 216.472 women. The increasing of female population is influenced by the number of male who go work outside the region due to poverty. Data from Integrated Data Base for Social Protection Program” (TNP2K-Bappeda Bulukumba, 2015) shows that Bulukumba has 35.545 poor households or about 127.516 poor people. Out of this number, there are 25.166 poor households or about 90.112 poor people live in the coastal areas. The female households are 10.452 heads in Bulukumba, and 7.658 of them live in the coastal area. Furthermore, the poor women live in coastal area are 48.942 from total 66.740 poor women in Bulukumba. This data concludes that most of poor people live in the coastal area and dominated by female who keep the household while most of the male work outside the district and others are fisherman.
The daily activities of woman limited to preparing their husband’s needs (for those husbands who stay at Bulukumba), selling fish and drying seaweed and not involve in development decision making within their villages. They do not have more portions for increasing their creative economic and micro business. Meanwhile, there is a potential to develop and enhance women’s role in economic and and climate change adaptation and mitigation actions, since within the Buginese culture, woman’s role is significant as the pillar of the family and culture.
Although women’s role in community and culture is quite strong, they are very vulnerable at the moment women’s group have not involve in climate change mitigation and adaptation actions. This is due to the lack of knowledge in climate change issues in general and its impact to their wellbeing. The climate change is not being mainstream to the development planning at the village and district level.