Women and the fishing industry in Liberia : measures of women's participation

Abstract

This study represents an attempt to measure the extent of participation of women in development. It approaches this through a case study of women in the fishing industry in Liberia's concentrating on their participation in industrial fishing. The subject of the case study is of particular interest from two dimensions. Foremost, the research is concerned with the participation of women in the informal urban sector of a developing economy and secondly, the industry in Liberia exhibits interesting linkages between the "formall" modern sector and the "informal" urban sectors. More significantly, the key to such linkages are a specialized group of Liberian market women "Fishmammies". The study identifies and measures the part played by women in the intersectoral dependence and the extent and nature of their participation in the growth and development of tho industry's thereby providing baseline data on what is happening to women during the process of change in different concrete settings.