Priority 2

Guarantee the participation of women and support their role in innovation

Women are present at all stages of small-scale fisheries value chains and are the essential link in getting the fish to the consumers.

However, their work is unrecognised, their contribution, including to innovations, is not valued and their working and living conditions are dire.

By 2030…

Governments should:

  • Empower women to actively organise themselves and engage with existing professional organisations and decision-making processes, including for fisheries management decisions;

  • Prioritise investments in services such as access to potable water, electricity, drainage, sanitary facilities at processing sites; in infrastructures that improve women living conditions and those of their families, such as decent housing, day care centres near processing sites; and in training in the use of new technologies;

  • Provide access to land and credit to support innovation in processing and marketing techniques (FTT ovens or solar fridges); support training to access new markets; and develop small-scale fish farming to complement raw materials supply; and

  • Remove existing barriers to trade at national and regional levels, particularly stopping the harassment of women in processing sites, markets, along trade routes and at border controls.

We call on governments and their partners to build resilient small-scale fishing communities by developing national strategic plans to implement these actions by 2030.

These plans must be adequately funded and guided by the FAO Guidelines to Secure Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries and other relevant regional policies.