New videos available to boost training on improved post-harvest small-scale fisheries practices

Basket rental system in Central Java

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19/12/2023

Written by: Patrick Kimani, Ansen Ward and Manoela Militão de Siqueira

A series of training videos have been created to promote peer-to-peer learning on improved post-harvest practices. Post-harvest practices refer to activities such as handling, processing, marketing, and other work done after the fish/aquatic food is caught which is an important part of the small-scale fisheries value chain, as well as for the livelihoods of communities all over the world. These videos are training tools designed to help share knowledge and learn on best practices in small-scale fishing communities. The videos support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), in particular with regards to how to access markets, appropriate infrastructure and techniques, and inclusive value chains enabling fishers and fish workers to provide affordable high-quality fish products, foster economic development and generation of employment.

The first five videos were filmed in Uganda and Ghana, in 2020, under the FAO project “Empowering women in fisheries for sustainable food systems”. While the majority of those catching or harvesting fish are men, a significant number of women are involved in post-harvest activities. Three of the first five videos focus on positive experiences of women working in post-harvest activities. The videos showcase specific techniques or forms of organization that can positively impact the small-scale fisheries communities and increase value and quality of their products, and consequently increase their income and improve livelihoods.

The videos support learning on:

The videos have been translated into local languages and have already been used in many training sessions in different locations. Following the positive feedback, the FAO project “Implementing the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines for gender-equitable and climate-resilient food systems and livelihoods”, a continuation of the “Empowering women in small-scale fisheries for sustainable food systems” project, continued the work and produced further videos on improved post-harvest practices: three in The Philippines, three in Madagascar and five more videos in Indonesia. These new videos complement and amplify the scope of the first five videos, not only by adding new locations, but also by covering different topics and bringing positive cases and experiences that can be replicated in other places:

Adoption of practices shown – using the videos to learn more about the training sessions.

The first five videos filmed in Uganda and Ghana have been used for training small-scale fishery value chain operators in Lake Malawi in Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, Pangani and Tanga in Tanzania, and in Ghana. The aim of these trainings was to equip the operators with valuable skills and experiences gathered from other places on post-harvest practices in the small-scale fishery business and to identify follow-on actions to support the uptake of these better practices by small-scale fisheries operators. The video training delivery model involved participation of fisheries officers and the small-scale fishery operators. The first step involved a briefing with Fisheries Officers to assist with organizing delivery of the training to the operators. The second step was the actual workshop to deliver the training using videos. In this session, the participants indicated if they would be interested in adopting the practices observed in the videos. Where the participants showed interest, discussions were held to identify activities they would like to implement. The identified activities were formalized into a concept note refined by the Fisheries Officers in the third and last steps of the training. In this session, the Fisheries Officers also provided their feedback on the usefulness of the videos in training and how they could participate in supporting the adoption of the identified practices.

Reception of the videos by the small-scale fishery operators has been particularly positive. Operators from all the training events have shown an interest in adopting some of the practices shown. For example, operators in Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika proposed to adopt the perforated plastic jerry cans during fishing, transportation, and landing of silver fish. At Lake Tanganyika, instead of adopting the perforated plastic jerricans, the operators with support from the Fish4ACP project opted to use plastic fish crates made by a domestic manufacturer. Adoption of drying racks for drying silverfish has been proposed for adoption by fishers and processors in Tanga and Pangani on the Tanzanian coast. A processor in Tanga is also setting up a fish powder business.

Currently, there are sixteen best practice videos available for use in participatory peer to peer training for small-scale fisheries operators, covering a variety of topics. Through these videos and their use in participatory training, FAO aims to promote the adoption of better practices and the implementation of the SSF Guidelines for the benefit of small-scale fisheries operators.