{"id":187843,"date":"2021-05-03T23:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T21:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/women-are-a-mainstay-of-fishing-in-west-africa-but-they-get-a-raw-deal\/"},"modified":"2021-05-03T23:00:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T21:00:59","slug":"women-are-a-mainstay-of-fishing-in-west-africa-but-they-get-a-raw-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/women-are-a-mainstay-of-fishing-in-west-africa-but-they-get-a-raw-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Women are a mainstay of fishing in West Africa. But they get a raw deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Throughout West Africa, the artisanal fishing sector<\/a> is a crucial source of livelihoods and food security<\/a>. For instance, in Nigeria artisanal fishing accounts for 80%<\/a> of the fish consumed and supports the livelihoods of about<\/a> 24 million people.<\/p>\n

Both men and women work in the sector, though the labour \u2013 throughout the region \u2013 is divided by gender. Men dominate<\/a> fishing and production<\/a> while women dominate post-harvest processing<\/a>, such as dressing, sorting, salting and smoking the fish. Women also do most<\/a> of the selling and marketing<\/a>. Women thus play a crucial role in artisanal fishing.<\/p>\n

We have conducted research on marine resource governance across West Africa over the last six years. This has included field research in Nigeria<\/a>, Ghana, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and Senegal<\/a>. Our research has found that weak fisheries governance undermines the livelihoods of fisherfolk.<\/p>\n

Research elsewhere<\/a> shows that women in particular get a raw deal. Their contributions to the sector are widely un(der)paid, undervalued and largely invisible<\/a>. This affects them in many ways<\/a> \u2013 for instance, they have less access to capital and other resources.<\/p>\n

Because women don\u2019t earn enough money, and are restricted in their roles within fisheries, they don\u2019t have the buying power<\/a> to purchase enough fish to earn a living for long periods of time. They also don\u2019t have access<\/a> to the required processing and storage facilities to avoid fish loss through spoilage. <\/p>\n

At times of economic or social upheaval such as an epidemic (Ebola)<\/a> or pandemic (COVID-19)<\/a> their position is even more vulnerable. <\/p>\n

We are now carrying out research<\/a> that explores these vulnerabilities. The countries we\u2019re examining include Nigeria, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, Cameroon and S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 & Principe. In this ongoing research, we are looking at the extent to which COVID-19 has compounded the particular challenges that women face. <\/p>\n

The challenges<\/h2>\n

Gender bias at institutional levels<\/a> \u2013 such as fishery ministries, management agencies and financial institutions \u2013 is a significant challenge for women in fisheries. Fisheries policy-making and management overlooks the (often informal) contributions of women<\/a>. Their fisheries contributions are treated as an extension of their everyday lives and responsibilities, rendering them invisible within the blue economy<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This institutional invisibility reduces women\u2019s access to capital<\/a>, thereby restricting their ability to grow or diversify their livelihoods. Expanding fisheries livelihoods and diversification among women is further complicated by the fact that they must balance productive and reproductive roles<\/a>, and many use the majority of their earnings to meet household expenses<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Post-harvest fish loss through spoilage<\/a> is another enduring challenge<\/a> for women processors. They typically lack access<\/a> to adequate preservation and cold storage equipment, such as wood for smoking<\/a> and ice for storing<\/a>, which both must be purchased and are subject to limited supply. <\/p>\n

Depleting fish stocks pose another challenge to women. Half of the fish species<\/a> in waters off West Africa are over-exploited. This reduces fish caught and limits the access<\/a> that women have to fish for processing and sale. The competition for access to fish is growing and, as a result, there are reports of women exchanging sexual favours<\/a> to guarantee steady fish supplies. <\/p>\n

Implications and next steps<\/h2>\n

The challenges that women in West African fisheries face have dire implications. <\/p>\n

Institutional invisibility means they are marginalised. They\u2019re often excluded from receiving policy or financial support<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Post-harvest fish losses through spoilage and depleting fish stocks threaten the economic and food security of women in fisheries<\/a> and their families. <\/p>\n

Reduced access to fish increases competition for this valuable resource, with dangerous consequences. Globally, HIV\/AIDS infection rates in fishing communities are between 4 and 14 times higher<\/a> than national averages, with transactional sex<\/a> link doesn\u2019t work<\/strong> in the fisheries sector contributing to this high prevalence. <\/p>\n

Way forward<\/h2>\n

Through our work, we\u2019ve seen that women in fisheries do have coping mechanisms in the form of women\u2019s cooperatives. Women\u2019s cooperatives at national and regional levels provide important \u201csafety nets\u201d<\/a> for women in fisheries, through financial support, advocacy and fundraising. In C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, women\u2019s cooperatives, like L\u2019Union des Soci\u00e9t\u00e9s Coop\u00e9ratives des Femmes de la P\u00eache et Assimil\u00e9es de C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire<\/a>, offer support by regulating informal lending relationships on behalf of women who are otherwise exploited by loan sharks. <\/p>\n

But more needs to be done, particularly as COVID-19 restrictions are making it harder for women to access, store and sell fish stocks \u2013 something we are seeing through our ongoing research. <\/p>\n

Measures that policymakers should take include improved cold storage for fish preservation, and processing infrastructures \u2013 such as ovens and chamber freezers \u2013 to extend the shelf life of landed fish. <\/p>\n

Furthermore, West African governments must consider establishing and supporting financial organisations \u2013 such as credit unions and cooperatives to provide credit at affordable rates \u2013 to lessen the burden of the financial risks that women encounter along the fisheries value chain.<\/p>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout West Africa, the artisanal fishing sector is a crucial source of livelihoods and food security. For instance, in Nigeria artisanal fishing accounts for 80% of the fish consumed and supports the livelihoods of about 24 million people. Both men and women work in the sector, though the labour \u2013 throughout the region \u2013 is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":187844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-187843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/women-are-a-mainstay-of-fishing-in-west-africa-but-they-get-a-raw-deal.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}