Women in artisanal fishing industry in Senegal and Ghana

Abstract

Fish products are the main source of protein food in coastal West Africa. The average consumption rate is more than 25 kilograms per capita per year. Fish consumption is highest in Senegal (56 kg), followed by Ghana (30 kg). In this area of the world, the sea also provides employment as well as sustenance. to helping the women, keep up with the greater yields of fish that need to be processed and marketed, improved technology must be applied to solving the grave problem of post-harvest losses. The whole problem of lack of development in the artisanal fish processing sector is further compounded by a sociological factor: the women have been curing the selling for centuries according to the same traditional methods. New ideas and new devices are often rejected or at best adopted only partially. The study that follows is a combination of two ECA/ATRCW-sponsored. reports: "Women in the Fish Trade: A West African Experience" by Alasebu Gebreselassie and "The Role of Women and Problems They Face in the Processing and Distribution of Fishery Products in Senegal" by Umoul Khayri Ly.