Category Archives: Uganda

A welcome new FAO gender Handbook to support the Small Scale Fisheries Guidelines

A very welcome addition to the technical support for the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication – a handbook –  has just been released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  Called “Towards gender-equitable small-scale fisheries governance and development“, the handbook written by Nilanjana Biswas, of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), is a treasure trove of essential background knowledge on women, gender and small-scale fisheries, combined with practical advice and case examples on incorporating gender equality principles in small scale fisheries work. The target audience is broad – from government officers to fishers and their communities, fish worker groups and researchers, as befits a product of the very participatory development process the Handbook team took.

The Handbook is organised in 3 parts:

  • Part 1: Understanding gender and the role of women in small-scale fisheries
  • Part 2: Responsible fisheries and sustainable development through a gender lens
  • Part 3: Ensuring an enabling environment for gender equality and supporting implementation

Among the rich and varied advice and explanatory boxes are such gems as a guide to tried and tested FAO methods for assessing post-harvest losses, and disaster response and rehabilitation issues to target to help women. Throughout, the Handbook has action points for policy-makers and for community service organisations, offering a few key tips on each subject.

A particular highlight is the set of case studies, each containing a description of the case, followed by a gender-sensitive “Let’s analyse this…” section that gets to the heart of the gender issues.

Here is the list of Case Studies:

  1. Women in fishing communities on Lake Victoria
  2. Tenure rights of traditional fishing communities in Raigad, India
  3. Recognition of indigenous community-owned land in Nicaragua
  4. War-affected women in the fishing villages of the Mannar Coast,
    Sri Lanka
  5. Self-regulation by women harvesters in the Gulf of Mannar, India
  6. Mandira Marine Extractive Region, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  7. Transboundary issues and fishers – learning from India and Sri Lanka
  8. Transboundary issues and fishers – learning from the European Union
  9. Diversifying livelihoods for small-scale fishing communities in Uganda
  10. Pacific Fishing Company on Levuka Island, Fiji
  11. Migrant Chinese women workers employed in oyster shucking in Japan
  12. Growing violence and abuse in small-scale fisheries in South Africa
  13. Reclaiming the Marol fish market in Mumbai, India
  14. Impact of harbour fishing on fish trade in Kerala, India
  15. Impact of competition along Lake Victoria in Kenya and on inland
    fisheries in Zambia
  16. Impact of industrialization on women in small-scale post-harvest
    fisheries in South Africa
  17. Issues of cross-border trade for traditional women fish vendors in
    Cambodia
  18. The risks of neglecting women in policy implementation
  19. Post-tsunami rehabilitation in Aceh, Indonesia
  20. Impact of mine pollution in Buyat Bay, Indonesia
  21. Matsyafed in Kerala, India – an apex cooperative for small-scale fisheries
  22. Impact of seasonal fishing ban on women fish traders in
    Puducherry, India
  23. Marshall Point, a coastal indigenous fishing/farming community in
    Nicaragua
  24. Women fishers fight corruption in the Sunderbans, India
  25. An example of value chain analysis (VCA) (in Malawi)
  26. Public hearing on issues of women in the fish trade in Kerala, India
  27. Enabling women’s participation in meetings in Kigombe, the United
    Republic of Tanzania
  28. Fisherwomen in Brazil organize for their rights
  29. Regional Fisheries Livelihood Programme for South and Southeast
    Asia (RFLP)
  30. Mainstreaming gender in the BOBLME project

Download the full Handbook at this LINK.

Sustainable Development Goal 5 and fisheries

The May 2017 issue of Yemaya, the gender in fisheries newsletter of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, is now out. This issue is full of stimulating and diverse articles from around the world – Mexico, India, Fiji and more, many with a focus on the implications of Sustainable Development Goal #5 on gender equality and its implications for fisheries. Download the whole issue or individual articles (see list below) at this link.

Yemaya Maya SDG5

Yemaya Mama: The picture isn’t complete without gender equality! p. 11 Yemaya #54, May 2017.

Contents of Yemaya #54, May 2017

  1. Gender equal fisheries by Meryl Williams
  2. Milestones – The Entebbe Declaration by  Venugopalan N
  3. Profile – An independent life! For Metty, a fisherwoman from Kerala, India, fishing has been a mainstay for over four decades by Nikita Gopal
  4. Gender equality in and through fisheries by Kyoko Kusakabe
  5. Changing tides by Nikita Gopal
  6. Managing Mercado del Mar by  Carmen Pedroza-Gutiérrez
  7. What’s new Webby? Community conservation network by Anthony Charles
  8. Women in Fisheries Network (Fiji) by  Loata Leweniqila
  9. Q&A Interview with Ujjwala Jaykishan Patil by Priyanka Mangela
  10. Yemaya Mama – The picture isn’t complete without gender equality!
  11. Yemaya Recommends – ICSF Document: Workshop on Enhancing Capacities of Women Fishworkers in India. Reviewed by Ahana Lakshmi

Mapping the action on International Women’s Day ’17

Map showing the locations (mainly at country resolution level) for events and news about women in aquaculture, fisheries and seafood in honor of International Women’s Day 2017. If you have more events from 8 March 2017 to put on this map, please let us know at: e-mail genderaquafish@gmail.com.

IWD-17-image-1

Click this LINK to view the interactive version of of the above map, created with eSpatial mapping software.

Before, during and after 8 March 2017 (International Women’s Day), news, tweets and posts flooded in relating to the Day. Our group shared these events via two roundup messages. We have now put the events onto the map above, using eSpatial mapping software, and generous assistance from Ciara at eSpatial (thank you Ciara!).

To read the details of any event, click on the marker for it. We have placed the event marker on the country (sometimes city or state) where the event happened, although many have global or regional significance.

This seemed to be the most active IWD ever from a fisheries, aquaculture and seafood industry perspective. Let’s hope it is a sign of an active and fruitful year ahead for gender equality in the sector!

1-2-3: Counting the ways women access fish

Women fish processors in Sokone, Senegal. Photo: Robert Lee, FAO.

Women fish processors in Sokone, Senegal. Photo: Robert Lee, FAO.

In a recent FAO report (A Review of Women’s Access to Fish in Small Scale Fisheries), Angela Lentisco and Robert Lee have gone beyond the typical portrayal of women as fish processors and marketers have reviewed and categorized three main ways in which women access fish in small scale fisheries. First is primary access through fishing and financing/owning fishing operations; second is through close personal relationships including family; and third is through the normal purchases. By conceptualising women’s access in this more structured way, policy and action to assist women’s empowerment and equality in fish value chains can be better formulated. Angela and Robert first explored this approach in their paper resulting from their paper at the 4th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF4) – read their earlier paper here.

The report, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular 1098 can be downloaded at this link.

Abstract: Women play a critical role in every link of the value chain in small-scale fisheries, although their best-known roles are in processing and marketing of fish and other fishery products. This perception of the highly gender-segregated division of labour (men fishing / women processing) has shaped the generalized approach in supporting development initiatives for small-scale fisheries. More often than not, this approach targets men as fishers, and women as processors and marketers of fishery products. However, this generalization has also made fisheries governance blind to women’s other valuable inputs to the sector. In fact, their roles can and should go beyond postharvest and marketing. However, the lack of utilization of their additional contribution has deterred, for example, women’s participation in fisheries resource management and policy decision-making.

The present review aims to move policy attention beyond the generalized, and perhaps limited, perception of women as fish processors and marketers and in this way enhance their participation in fisheries resource management and decision-making. The study describes the different ways women have access to fish in small-scale fisheries: as primary users (when they fish by themselves or they finance fishery operations), secondary users (when they access fish through kinship or other close relationships), and tertiary users (when they use capital to buy fish directly from fishers or traders). The review provides case studies to illustrate some of the issues that tend to keep women in marginalized positions along the value chain. Factors and processes that can contribute to improve women’s participation and decision-making in small-scale fisheries, such as those that challenge conventional approaches based on traditional or “typical” gender roles and obsolete institutional arrangements, are also given. The document also discusses how participation can be improved by raising awareness on gender equality issues along the value chain through applying a gender lens, by providing appropriate support to women’s organizations, including formal recognition of their professional activities, by understanding the socioeconomic context and the particular needs of small-scale fisheries, by giving due attention to power and power relationships, and by taking greater account of the contribution of women in fisheries. As neither women nor men form homogenous groups, the challenge is even greater for women to have access to productive tools and services, which if secured can give them a greater say and control over fisheries resources, thereby increasing their social capital and financial capital. These reflections can be introduced in existing resource management arrangements such as co-management or community based management, and can probably empower women and improve their participation in fishery resource management decision-making.

The reflections in this review can and should be used as guidance and discussion material to develop interventions under the Global Assistance Programme in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication.

Lake Victoria Fishermen’s Spouses Who Travel More at Risk of HIV/AIDS

Fish market, Kisimu County, Kenya. Photo source: guide2kenya.com

Fish market, Kisimu County, Kenya. Photo source: guide2kenya.com

The new study by Zachary A. Kwena, Carol S. Camlin, Chris A. Shisanya, Isaac Mwanzo, Elizabeth A. Bukusi, carried out in Kisimu County, near Lake Victoria, Kenya, delves into social patterns of mobility and the risks it brings for contracting HIV/AIDS.

Short-Term Mobility and the Risk of HIV Infection among Married Couples in the Fishing Communities along Lake Victoria, Kenya

PLOS ONE: download paper here 

Also check out links below for other recent papers on HIV/AIDS in Uganda Lake Victoria fishing communities.

Abstract

Objective: Mobility has long been associated with high HIV prevalence. We sought to assess sex differences in the relationship between mobility and risk for HIV infection among married couples in the fishing communities.

Methods: We conducted 1090 gender-matched interviews and rapid HIV testing with 545 couples proportionally representing all the different sizes of the fish-landing beaches in Kisumu County. We contacted a random sample of fishermen as our index participants and asked them to enrol in the study together with their spouses. The consenting couples were separated into different private rooms for concurrent interviews and thereafter reunited for couple rapid HIV counselling and testing. In addition to socio-economic and behavioural data, we collected information on overnight travels and divided couples in 4 groups as follows both partners not mobile, both partners mobile, only woman mobile, and only man mobile. Other than descriptive statistics, we used X2 and U tests to compare groups of variables and multivariate logistic regression to measure association between mobility and HIV infection.

Results: We found significant differences in the number of trips women travelled  in the preceding month (mean 4.6, SD 7.1) compared to men (mean 3.3, SD 4.9; p,0.01) and when the women did travel, they were more likely to spend more days away from home than their male partners (mean 5.2 [SD 7.2] versus 3.4 SD 5.6; p = 0.01). With an HIV prevalence of 22.7% in women compared to 20.9% among men, mobile women who had non-mobile spouses had 2.1 times the likelihood of HIV infection compared to individuals in couples where both partners were non-mobile.

Conclusion: The mobility of fishermen’s spouses is associated with HIV infection that is not evident among fishermen themselves. Therefore, interventions in this community could be a combination of sex-specific programming that targets women and combined programming for couples.

Also read about other studies regarding HIV/AIDS in fishing communities around Lake Victoria, from Uganda.

https://genderaquafish.org/2011/09/24/hiv-behavioural-survey-and-tests-in-uganda-fishing-communities/

https://genderaquafish.org/2011/08/18/uganda-fishing-communties-study-on-hivaids-rates-in-women-and-men/

Overcoming Gender Inequalities in Fish Supply Chains

Panelists in IIFET Gender and Value Chains Session, July 2012.

“Gender equality thinking should not focus just on the numbers of women and men in fish supply chains”, said Gifty Anane-Taabeah (Ghana), the final panelist on Overcoming Gender Equalities in Fish Supply Chains. The panel and two presentation sessions (Markets and Value Chains for Small Aquaculture Enterprises and Looking at Fish Supply Chains with a Gender Lens) were held on the first day of the 2012 conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Rather, Gifty contended, “the overall aim should be how to empower women and men in supply chains to boost overall productivity.”

In July 2012, the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET) held its biennial conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  On the agenda, thanks to IIFET and the Aquafish CRSP, were sessions that included or focused on gender in aquaculture and fisheries, especially on value chains for small scale aquaculture and fisheries. The reports from the sessions are now starting to appear on the conference  repository website (https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/32231).

Read these reports for a start (others to be posted on the site):

VALUE CHAINS SESSION INTRODUCTION by Dr Hillary Egna: download here

SUMMARY OF THE GENDER AND VALUE CHAINS  sessions and papers by Presenters and Meryl Williams: download here

The above reports  include summaries of papers of global reach and more specific regional and country studies from:

AFRICA: Lake Victoria, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania (including Zanzibar), Uganda

ASIA: India (including Kerala), Sri Lanka

Visit the AquaFish CRSP gender page for more.

Papers that can be downloaded are:

  1. M.L. Adeleke and J.A. Afolabi. Appraisal of Fresh Fish Marketing in Ondo State, Nigeria.
  2. Salehe, Mwanahamis; Mlaponi, Enock; Onyango, Paul O.; Mrosso, Hilary D.J. Contribution of Lake Victoria Dagaa Fishery in East and Central African Fish Trade.
  3. Olufayo, Mosun. The Gender Roles of Women in Aquaculture and Food Security in Nigeria.
  4. De Silva, Achini; Bjorndal, Trond; Lem, Audun. Role of Gender in Global Fishery Value Chains: A feminist Perspective on Activity, Access and Control Profile.
  5. Masette, Margaret. Sun-dried Mukene (Rastrineobola argentea) Value-Chain Analysis in Uganda.
  6. Cheke, Abiodun. Women in Fish Value Chain in Nigeria.

Measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture – a new tool

Photo: IRIN

A new tool for measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture should have good applications in the aquaculture sector also. The index was developed through a partnership between the US Agency for International Development (USAID), IFPRI and Oxford University’s Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Using 5 criteria, it measures the empowerment of women in agriculture and in their own households.  The criteria cover:

– how engaged women were in decision-making about agricultural production

– their access to resources and how involved they were in resource-related decision-making

– the extent to which they controlled how income was used

– whether they were able to have a leadership role in the community; and

– how they used their time.
The new measuring tool was tested by cases in Uganda, Bangladesh and Gualemala.

The case studies (2 for each of the countries) can all be downloaded at:

IRIN

Oxford University, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative

According to the IFPRI press release:

“The pilot results show some surprising new findings:

  • In the sample from the Western Highlands of Guatemala, wealth is a poor indicator of empowerment—three-quarters of women in the wealthiest two-thirds of the population are not yet empowered.
  • In the southern Bangladesh sample, more than half of women are less empowered than the men with whom they share their house, yet they are usually confident speaking in public.
  • In the sample from rural parts of Uganda, lack of control over resources and time burdens contribute most to the disempowerment of women.”

HIV: behavioural survey and tests in Uganda fishing communities

HIV SERO BEHAVIORAL SURVEY IN FISHING COMMUNITIES OF THE LAKE VICTORIA BASIN OF UGANDA

by Alex Opio, Michael Muyonga & Noordin Mulumba July, 2011.

This study was done for the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization. It counters some common misconceptions about the level of knowledge of HIV among fishing communities although it also reveals that more education and health services are needed to contain the spread of the disease.

Extracted from the Executive Summary (download the full document)

Also see related Post on HIV/AIDS in Uganda: https://genderaquafish.org/category/theme/hivaids/

The survey was conducted in forty six fishing communities of the Lake Victoria Basin of Uganda in August 2010 to establish HIV prevalence among fishing communities, the associated drivers of risk and vulnerability; and the effectiveness of HIV and AIDS response.

A total of 911 women and men aged 15-59 years were randomly selected and interviewed by four fieldwork teams. Of the 911 respondents, 559 (61 percent) are men and 352 (39 percent) are women. Twenty two percent of the surveyed fishing community members are infected with HIV; HIV prevalence among women is higher (25.1 percent) than among men (20.5 percent). HIV prevalence is highest among widows/widowers (40 percent) followed by that among divorced people (32 percent). Overall, HIV prevalence is higher among uncircumcised men and respondents with STI than in circumcised men and respondents without STI, respectively. HIV prevalence is 11 percent in circumcised men and 27 percent in uncircumcised men.

Radio is the commonest source of HIV/AIDS information and education. Of all information acquired on HIV prevention methods, limiting sex to one partner is perceived as the most important information acquired from the radios.

Overall levels of knowledge on single measures of prevention are high but the level of comprehensive knowledge is moderate; being 38 percent among women and 41 percent among men. The level of comprehensive knowledge is higher among those with secondary or higher level of education compared to those who stopped at primary level. Misconception about HIV/AIDS is low in the surveyed fishing communities. Multiple sexual partnerships are more common in men than in women. Those respondents whose origin is 100 kilometers or more from the current place of residence are more likely to report engagement in multiple sexual relationships than those born in the area of current residence. Safe sex [practices, number of partners.

Overall, 77 percent of women and 62 percent of men reported that they have ever had HIV tests. Therefore, women were more likely than men to have received HIV testing. About one third of respondents said that they got tested in the last 12 months and received their results.

Among the key recommendations are the following:

  • Use the results of this survey to raise people’s awareness of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women and men in the fishing communities, and also to highlight the vulnerability of women in the fisheries sector.
  • Develop and implement innovative service delivery initiatives which would include: Surgical camps for male circumcision, mobile service delivery teams/Outreaches condom vending machines, STI screening and treatment.
  • Initiate tailored programmes using peer-education, life skills promotion, local radio programmes, mobile phones for message dissemination, and entertainment education approaches.
  • Implement income generation initiatives targeting women. Consider establishing income saving approaches using mobile banking.
  • Develop and implement a gender mainstreaming advocacy strategy targeting promotion of policies and laws that protect women against violence and exploitation.
  • Innovative approaches should be sought to address the transport and communication barrier so as to increase access to health services to the hard-to-reach fishing communities. For instance, mobile phones could be used as an avenue to disseminate general health and HIV-related messages.
  • A special comprehensive HIV prevention and care programme for fishing communities is needed to address the unique characteristics of these communities.
  • A special funding for primary health care provision needs to be provided in the islands because primary health care services are grossly inadequate in the islands. Also, improve the health infrastructure and the provision of drugs and supplies to support service delivery.
  • Establish a regional hub of good practices for interventions among fishing communities.
  • Coordination of community response needs to be strengthened.

Uganda fishing communities: study on HIV/AIDS rates in women and men

HIV and syphilis prevalence and associated risk factors among fishing communities of Lake Victoria, Uganda

By Gershim Asiki, Juliet Mpendo, Andrew Abaasa, Collins Agaba, Annet Nanvubya, Leslie Nielsen, Janet Seeley, Pontiano Kaleebu, Heiner Grosskurth, Anatoli Kamali

Link (access required for full paper) http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2011/08/10/sti.2010.046805.abstract

Correspondence to Dr Gershim Asiki, Medical Research Council Research Unit on AIDS, Uganda Virus Research Institute, PO Box 49 Entebbe, Uganda; gershim.asiki@mrcuganda.org

This large study is one of the first to study HIV/AIDS, syphilis prevalence and risk factors in women as well as men in fishing communities, many previous studies having only focused on fishermen. An extract from the abstract follows:

Objectives Recent publications suggest that fishing populations may be highly affected by the HIV epidemic. However, accurate data are scarce. The authors determined HIV and syphilis prevalence and associated risk factors in a fishing population of Lake Victoria in Uganda.

Conclusion This fishing population characterised by a very high HIV prevalence, high syphilis prevalence and frequently reported sexual risk behaviours, urgently needs improved STI services and targeted behavioural interventions.

For one of the first papers to highlight the high rates of HIV/AIDS in some fishing communities, see Mary Huang’s paper in the proceedings of the AFS 1st Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries (p 49-53 in http://www.worldfishcenter.org/resource_centre/WF_328.pdf) and Williams (2008) (http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v51/n2/pdf/dev20082a.pdf – access required: author contact MerylJWilliams@gmail.com)

Influencing change, gender mainstreaming

Recommended reading!

Guinea pig farmer, DR Congo. Photo: CIAT

Influencing Change: Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Agricultural Research and Development in Eastern and Central Africa.”

Edited by: Barun Gurung, Elizabeth Ssendiwala, Michael Waithaka

Link to download publication

Part of the CGIAR Particiaptory Research and Gender Analysis Program, the project from which this very useful report came sought to influence the policies of agricultural research and development systems, while improving implementation and delivery of services directly benefitting vulnerable groups, such as poor women, through improved targeting. It wanted to develop mechanisms in national agricultural R&D institutions for making gender an explicit criterion for programming and effectiveness, and to enable the organizations to think more deeply about gender relations, away from the earlier “add women and stir approach”.

The researchers identified four challenges:

1. the limitations of the R&D institutions to effect real changes in social relations of their constituency groups, the small scale farmers

2. the tendency within the R&D institutions to define gender mainstreaming only in instrumental terms (investment in women has high pay-offs) and subsequently focus narrowly on emphasizing women’s visibility and their capacities and needs. This instrumental approach to mainstreaming emphasizes reliance on ‘tool kits’ and ‘checklists.’

3. the ‘logic of bureaucracies’ or how bureaucracies react to new challenges. When a new challenge is posed, the bureaucracy’s response will be determined by the level of threat or opportunity. When it comes to gender equality or women’s rights, both the opportunity and threat are low.

4. the culture of organizations is influenced by the larger society in which they are situated.

The project developed and trialed approaches to gender mainstreaming for meeting these challenges in agricultural R&D institutes of the following East African countries: DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

For fisheries and aquaculture specialists, the Introduction and Project Evaluation chapters will be of most interest, unless you work in one of the project countries, in which case you will find your country chapter also of interest.