FAO working to increase women participation in Malawi’s fisheries value chain

Women are involved in many activities along the value chain of fish trade in Africa including post-harvest handling, processing, branding and marketing. However, limited access to and control of key assets such as capital, skills and technologies limit their engagement in formal fish-related businesses. Women work under critical conditions using obsolete processing equipment, which expose them to occupational hazards and health challenges.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the Government of Malawi through the Department of Fisheries is supporting capacity building on gender mainstreaming, targeting men and women in the fisheries value chain. This initiative is targeting fisheries extension workers, and community champions from fish processing groups and beach village committees with training on the use of one of the gender transformative approaches known as the gender household approach (HHA).

Women in fisheries

In Malawi, women play a crucial role in processing and marketing of fish. A recent survey in major fish markets showed that over 70 percent of the fish traders who process, transport and sell fish in wholesale markets are women. A few women own fishing gear such as seine nets and employ fishing crews to do the actual fishing while they manage from the shore. However, some women do the actual fishing especially in rivers and flood plains using hook and line and fish traps.

“The household approach to gender mainstreaming is deemed ideal in the Malawi situation because as an extension approach it caters for the challenges which women in fisheries are experiencing. It empowers all adult and youth members of a household through better gender and power relations, enables equitable access to and control over resources, assets and benefits and aims to improve the livelihood of all household members indiscriminately,” Amenye Banda Fisheries Coordinator at FAO Malawi said.

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