Yemaya No. 69, dated June 2024, features articles from Barbados, India, Spain, a regional study focusing on Kenya, Sri Lanka and Cambodia  and Women in Fisheries Action plans from ICSF’s IYAFA workshops  from Asia, Africa, Europe and  Latin America and the Caribbean Islands.

A series of regional workshops were held through the years 2022 and 2023 in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia to mark the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA) 2022. The workshops raised several issues that were common across regions. In these workshops, women fishers discussed the multiple roles they played. Women are active in primary fishing activities, including shore-based subsistence fishing and fishing on boats; they are the main producers of processed fish products; they contribute significantly to fish trade; they provide allied services in sales and transportation. Women in Africa and Asia also participate in fish exports through cross-border trade.

However, women’s work is also largely invisible, and lacks recognition by policy makers. The discussions highlighted the need to make the roles of women more visible, through better research into their roles, and improved data collection by the government, The need for capacity building among women was stressed, so that they can gain the skills to be more competitive in the sector. The workshop discussions also noted with concern the persistence of violence that women experienced at homes, in communities, and in their workplaces. The need to ensure greater gender sensitivity, through training, advocacy and positive policy measures was repeatedly stressed. Arguably, the single most important takeaway from the IYAFA workshops was the need for women to organize to gain visibility and amplify their demands.