Proscovia provides production support on A Greener Blue and Seafood MAP. She is a social entrepreneur passionate about food and nutrition security in Africa. She is a food systems leader at African Food Fellowship, the founder of Samaky Hub - an aquaculture consultancy start-up targeting fish farmers, and the co-founder at Ressect - a start-up specialized in farming black soldier fly (BSF) insects as an alternative protein source in animal feed formulation.
Introduction
Aquaculture is one of the promising and lucrative sectors for food production that is estimated to grow exponentially with the increasing demand for protein. In order to achieve sustainable and responsible development of the industry, various stakeholders should work together to empower farmers especially small-scale producers and marginalized farmers.
Aquaculture development has great potential in addressing food security, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where one in every four people is reported to be undernourished and young children and women are reported to have the highest cases of vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency respectively. (Science Direct) In Kenya, fish consumption is 4kg per capita per year compared to the global average of 20kg per capita per year, indicating high levels of undernutrition and low fish consumption. Fish is a good source of protein and other valuable nutrients, especially for childbearing women and children, and should be readily available and affordable as it plays an important role in combating malnutrition.
Women in aquaculture are important players in the industry because apart from actively being engaged in the whole value chain including production, they are also key decision-makers in the household on matters of food and nutrition. However, despite all their contributions, women still remain the most vulnerable and underpaid in the industry. This article covers the challenges women in aquaculture face and provides possible interventions to enable women to get the necessary support required to enable them to have access to healthy and affordable nutrition, increase productivity and improve their livelihoods.
Challenges women in aquaculture face
Traditionally, fish farming and capture fisheries have been presumed to be male-dominated but studies have shown that women play a significant role in both aquaculture and fisheries and are actively involved in all areas of the industry. For instance, women in aquaculture not only carry out the construction of fish-rearing structures like ponds and fish production but are also active in post-harvest activities including processing, value addition, and marketing. Studies in Cambodia showed that ponds managed by women gave higher output compared to those managed by men thus leading to increase fish availability in the market, improved socio-economic conditions, and improved family income. In Zanzibar and Lake Victoria region, the seaweed production sector and the drying and selling of Rastrineobola argentea locally known as dagaa, is dominated by women (Research gate).
Despite the evident contribution of women in the aquaculture industry, they still earn less compared to men in similar positions which further contributes to higher rates of poverty among women. The Poorer women are usually involved in low-status and tedious work compared to the more educated women who despite being involved in skilled labor, are overworked, underpaid, and have lower promotion rates or pay inequalities for the same amount of work done (FAO 2017). In instances where there is the modernization of technology, women’s roles become more limited and they seldom make it to the top management levels.
Women also need more resources to invest in commercially viable aquaculture activities and a few who have worked to adopt new aquaculture technologies still have restricted roles. Their contribution is usually disregarded and some of their work is classified as an unpaid family worker with no records of the actual number of women involved in these activities. This lack of employment data in the aquaculture industry makes it difficult to understand the severity of the case that would aid in designing appropriate solutions to the challenge.
Due to gender and cultural norms in most developing countries, women have limited control of assets and are unable to own land in some communities since only men have full ownership of properties which creates major barriers for women to access credit since they lack collateral for the loans. This, coupled with limited access to capital makes it even harder for women to establish sustainable fish farming businesses.
In some communities, women are viewed purely as child bearers and household managers. This results in young girls lacking access to basic education as they spend their development period being trained on how to be mothers and housewives. This lack of education creates challenges in gaining relevant skills and access to well-paying roles in the industry-leading to fewer opportunities for these women to develop making it a cycle that encourages discrimination and exploitation. Even with the chance of women being involved in aquaculture, the competing needs of household responsibilities mean that they work fewer hours and have no time to participate in capacity-building activities due to limited time availability, familial responsibilities, and restrictions with movement especially if they have children.
These issues coupled with harsh economic times and lack of a means of livelihood have prompted women in some coastal communities to participate in “Jaboya” – the act of transactional sex where women trade sex to get fish for sale and for consumption. In most fishing communities, men own the fishing boats, while women buy fish from them for market distribution. Due to the inability of women to go fishing as it is viewed as men’s role, poverty, and helplessness prompt some of the women to introduce their daughters to the practice in order to secure fish. This exposure to multiple sexual partners exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infections. Since men are mostly in control of factors of production both in aquaculture and fisheries, this makes the power dynamics favorable to men enabling the exploitation of women for sex. (National library of medicine). A report disclosed by fishermen in Malawi indicates that a total of 25 fishermen would line up to have sex with one woman in exchange for 15 dozen fish if no condom is used during sexual intercourse, or 3 dozen fish if a condom is used. (Journal of the international AIDS society)
How to make it right – Interventions to empower women in aquaculture
Studies indicate that gender equality plays a major role in promoting aquaculture development, food and nutrition security, and poverty reduction. As major stakeholders in the industry, women empowerment can significantly enhance fish production, improve household incomes, and promote good nutrition.
Interventions towards the challenges faced by women need to be all-inclusive and avoid casting the burden on women who are already facing these challenges by designing simple and proven channels to identify problems and develop solutions with the urgency deserved to help vulnerable women. This should begin with removing barriers that prevent women from getting a good education and owning property as well as encouraging women to participate in capacity building and aquaculture training. Extension officers in the industry also need to have more women on their team to achieve gender balance and create a safe space for women to voice their problems. (World fish)
Local support networks and communities need to be educated on gender awareness and the importance of supporting women in these communities. The right support and education will play a major role in helping these women overcome these social and cultural barriers and provide them with a chance to have a better life through improved standards of living.
Academia, aquaculture research, and project implementations should be inclusive to ensure that the different needs of both women and men are met. Policies should have guidelines in place on gender equality which are currently lacking. These should be mainstreamed into aquaculture planning, development, monitoring, and evaluation and should involve the participation of various stakeholders in the aquaculture industry including research and learning institutions, government, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to work together in overcoming gender blindness.
In order to achieve this, an evidence-based approach is needed to showcase how empowering women at different levels of the industry can enhance the productivity of the sector. There should be systematic data collection on gender participation in aquaculture to be used in planning and development. The collection of this data should be made a legal obligation to ensure sufficient data on gender is available during planning and implementation. This data should include information on women’s participation in various stages of the industry, type of work, payment, and working conditions with the main targets being, decent working conditions and gender equality. Women and men in high aquaculture positions with decision-making capacity should be trained in mainstreaming gender basics.
Conclusion
As part of a more concrete societal change, both women and men, need to advocate for gender equality. This is no easy feat and requires a deliberate commitment to change by recognizing the indignity of leaving women to their own demise despite the disadvantages they already face. I believe that each individual has a role to play by questioning the rooted and degrading manner in which women’s work is being portrayed and perceived not only in aquaculture but also in other industries. By challenging our own assumptions about gender roles, we can help achieve gender equality.
It is also essential to recognize women’s important role in aquaculture to improve productivity. This can be achieved through research and innovation to formulate better aquaculture policies that are inclusive of women where factors that are most crucial for women’s empowerment are identified and implemented. This should involve not only economic empowerment but also changes in society and institutional norms. Successful women in the industry should also be documented by sharing details of how they overcame these challenges to encourage other women and clearly show that it is possible to rise above these challenges.
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You are being directed to our LexiconLab channel, where we gather writers and filmmakers from across the globe and help them document what’s working at a human scale, starting in their own communities.
You are being directed to our LexiconLab channel, where we gather writers and filmmakers from across the globe and help them document what’s working at a human scale, starting in their own communities.
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Could changing the way we grow our food provide benefits for people and the planet, and even respond to climate change?
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Mobilizing agronomists, farmers, NGOs, chefs, and food companies in defense of biodiversity in nature, agriculture, and on our plates.
Can governments develop guidelines that shift consumer diets, promote balanced nutrition and reduce the risk of chronic disease?
Will sustainably raising shellfish, finfish, shrimp and algae meet the growing demand for seafood while reducing pressure on wild fisheries?
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What if making the right food choices could be an effective tool for addressing a range of global challenges?
Let’s start with climate change. While it presents our planet with existential challenges, biodiversity loss, desertification, and water scarcity should be of equal concern—they’re all connected.
Instead of seeking singular solutions, we must develop a holistic approach, one that channel our collective energies and achieve positive impacts where they matter most.
To maximize our collective impact, EBF can help consumers focus on six equally important ecological benefits: air, water, soil, biodiversity, equity, and carbon.
We’ve gathered domain experts from over 1,000 companies and organizations working at the intersection of food, agriculture, conservation, and climate change.
The Lexicon™ is a California-based nonprofit founded in 2009 with a focus on positive solutions for a more sustainable planet.
For the past five years, it has developed an “activator for good ideas” with support from Food at Google. This model gathers domain experts from over 1,000 companies and organizations working at the intersection of food, agriculture, conservation, and climate change.
Together, the community has reached consensus on strategies that respond to challenges across multiple domain areas, including biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, food packaging, aquaculture, and the missing middle in supply chains for meat.
Lexicon of Food is the first public release of that work.
Over half the world’s agricultural production comes from only three crops. Can we bring greater diversity to our plates?
In the US, four companies control nearly 85% of the beef we consume. Can we develop more regionally-based markets?
How can we develop alternatives to single-use plastics that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly?
Could changing the way we grow our food provide benefits for people and the planet, and even respond to climate change?
Can we meet the growing global demand for protein while reducing our reliance on traditional animal agriculture?
It’s not only important what we eat but what our food comes in. Can we develop tools that identify toxic materials used in food packaging?
Explore The Lexicon’s collection of immersive storytelling experiences featuring insights from our community of international experts.
The Great Protein Shift
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How can we responsibly manage our ocean fisheries so there’s enough seafood for everyone now and for generations to come?
Mobilizing agronomists, farmers, NGOs, chefs, and food companies in defense of biodiversity in nature, agriculture, and on our plates.
Can governments develop guidelines that shift consumer diets, promote balanced nutrition and reduce the risk of chronic disease?
Will sustainably raising shellfish, finfish, shrimp and algae meet the growing demand for seafood while reducing pressure on wild fisheries?
How can a universal visual language to describe our food systems bridge cultural barriers and increase consumer literacy?
This game was designed to raise awareness about the impacts our food choices have on our own health, but also the environment, climate change and the cultures in which we live.
First, you can choose one of the four global regions and pick a character that you want to play.
Each region has distinct cultural, economic, historical, and agricultural capacities to feed itself, and each character faces different challenges, such as varied access to food, higher or lower family income, and food literacy.
As you take your character through their day, select the choices you think they might make given their situation.
At the end of the day you will get a report on the impact of your food choices on five areas: health, healthcare, climate, environment and culture. Take some time to read through them. Now go back and try again. Can you make improvements in all five areas? Did one area score higher, but another score lower?
FOOD CHOICES FOR A HEALTHY PLANET will help you better understand how all these regions and characters’ particularities can influence our food choices, and how our food choices can impact our personal health, national healthcare, environment, climate, and culture. Let’s Play!
The FOOD CHOICES FOR A HEALTHY PLANET game allows users to experience the dramatic connections between food and climate in a unique and engaging way. The venue and the game set-up provides attendees with a fun experience, with a potential to add a new layer of storytelling about this topic.
Starting the game: the pilot version of the game features four country/regions: Each reflects a different way people (and the national dietary guidelines) look at diets: Nordic Countries (sustainability), Brazil (local and whole foods instead of ultra-processed foods); Canada (plant-forward), and Indonesia (developing countries).
Personalizing the game: players begin by choosing a country and then a character who they help in making food choices over the course of one day. Later versions may allow for creating custom avatars.
Making tough food choices: This interactive game for all ages shows how the food choices we make impact our health and the environment, and even contribute to climate change.
What we eat matters: at the end of each game, players learn that every decision they make impacts not only their health, but a national healthcare system, the environment, climate and even culture.
We’d love to know more about you and why you think you will be a great fit for this position! Shoot us an email introducing you and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Providing best water quality conditions to ensure optimal living condition for growth, breeding and other physiological needs
Water quality is sourced from natural seawater with dependency on the tidal system. Water is treated to adjust pH and alkalinity before stocking.
Producers that own and manages the farm operating under small-scale farming model with limited input, investment which leads to low to medium production yield
All 1,149 of our farmers in both regencies are smallholder farmers who operate with low stocking density, traditional ponds, and no use of any other intensification technology.
Safe working conditions — cleanliness, lighting, equipment, paid overtime, hazard safety, etc. — happen when businesses conduct workplace safety audits and invest in the wellbeing of their employees
Company ensure implementation of safe working conditions by applying representative of workers to health and safety and conduct regular health and safety training. The practices are proven by ASIC standards’ implementation
Implementation of farming operations, management and trading that impact positively to community wellbeing and sustainable better way of living
The company works with local stakeholders and local governments to create support for farmers and the farming community in increasing resilience. Our farming community is empowered by local stakeholders continuously to maintain a long generation of farmers.
Freezing seafood rapidly when it is at peak freshness to ensure a higher quality and longer lasting product
Our harvests are immediately frozen with ice flakes in layers in cool boxes. Boxes are equipped with paper records and coding for traceability. We ensure that our harvests are processed with the utmost care at <-18 degrees Celsius.
Sourcing plant based ingredients, like soy, from producers that do not destroy forests to increase their growing area and produce fish feed ingredients
With adjacent locations to mangroves and coastal areas, our farmers and company are committed to no deforestation at any scale. Mangrove rehabilitation and replantation are conducted every year in collaboration with local authorities. Our farms are not established in protected habitats and have not resulted from deforestation activity since the beginning of our establishment.
Implement only natural feeds grown in water for aquatic animal’s feed without use of commercial feed
Our black tiger shrimps are not fed using commercial feed. The system is zero input and depends fully on natural feed grown in the pond. Our farmers use organic fertilizer and probiotics to enhance the water quality.
Enhance biodiversity through integration of nature conservation and food production without negative impact to surrounding ecosysytem
As our practices are natural, organic, and zero input, farms coexist with surrounding biodiversity which increases the volume of polyculture and mangrove coverage area. Farmers’ groups, along with the company, conduct regular benthic assessments, river cleaning, and mangrove planting.
THE TERM “MOONSHOT” IS OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE an initiative that goes beyond the confines of the present by transforming our greatest aspirations into reality, but the story of a moonshot isn’t that of a single rocket. In fact, the Apollo program that put Neil Armstrong on the moon was actually preceded by the Gemini program, which in a two-year span rapidly put ten rockets into space. This “accelerated” process — with a new mission nearly every 2-3 months — allowed NASA to rapidly iterate, validate their findings and learn from their mistakes. Telemetry. Propulsion. Re-entry. Each mission helped NASA build and test a new piece of the puzzle.
The program also had its fair share of creative challenges, especially at the outset, as the urgency of the task at hand required that the roadmap for getting to the moon be written in parallel with the rapid pace of Gemini missions. Through it all, the NASA teams never lost sight of their ultimate goal, and the teams finally aligned on their shared responsibilities. Within three years of Gemini’s conclusion, a man did walk on the moon.
FACT is a food systems solutions activator that assesses the current food landscape, engages with key influencers, identifies trends, surveys innovative work and creates greater visibility for ideas and practices with the potential to shift key food and agricultural paradigms.
Each activator focuses on a single moonshot; instead of producing white papers, policy briefs or peer-reviewed articles, these teams design and implement blueprints for action. At the end of each activator, their work is released to the public and open-sourced.
As with any rapid iteration process, many of our activators re-assess their initial plans and pivot to address new challenges along the way. Still, one thing has remained constant: their conviction that by working together and pooling their knowledge and resources, they can create a multiplier effect to more rapidly activate change.
Co-Founder
THE LEXICON
Vice President
Global Workplace Programs
GOOGLE
Who can enter and how selections are made.
A Greener Blue is a global call to action that is open to individuals and teams from all over the world. Below is a non-exhaustive list of subjects the initiative targets.
To apply, prospective participants will need to fill out the form on the website, by filling out each part of it. Applications left incomplete or containing information that is not complete enough will receive a low score and have less chance of being admitted to the storytelling lab.
Nonprofit organizations, communities of fishers and fish farmers and companies that are seeking a closer partnership or special support can also apply by contacting hello@thelexicon.org and interacting with the members of our team.
Special attention will be given to the section of the form regarding the stories that the applicants want to tell and the reasons for participating. All proposals for stories regarding small-scale or artisanal fishers or aquaculturists, communities of artisanal fishers or aquaculturists, and workers in different steps of the seafood value chain will be considered.
Stories should show the important role that these figures play in building a more sustainable seafood system. To help with this narrative, the initiative has identified 10 principles that define a more sustainable seafood system. These can be viewed on the initiative’s website and they state:
Seafood is sustainable when:
Proposed stories should show one or more of these principles in practice.
Applications are open from the 28th of June to the 15th of August 2022. There will be 50 selected applicants who will be granted access to The Lexicon’s Total Storytelling Lab. These 50 applicants will be asked to accept and sign a learning agreement and acceptance of participation document with which they agree to respect The Lexicon’s code of conduct.
The first part of the lab will take place online between August the 22nd and August the 26th and focus on training participants on the foundation of storytelling, supporting them to create a production plan, and aligning all of them around a shared vision.
Based on their motivation, quality of the story, geography, and participation in the online Lab, a selected group of participants will be gifted a GoPro camera offered to the program by GoPro For A Change. Participants who are selected to receive the GoPro camera will need to sign an acceptance and usage agreement.
The second part of the Storytelling Lab will consist of a production period in which each participant will be supported in the production of their own story. This period goes from August 26th to October 13th. Each participant will have the opportunity to access special mentorship from an international network of storytellers and seafood experts who will help them build their story. The Lexicon also provides editors, animators, and graphic designers to support participants with more technical skills.
The final deadline to submit the stories is the 14th of October. Participants will be able to both submit complete edited stories, or footage accompanied by a storyboard to be assembled by The Lexicon’s team.
All applicants who will exhibit conduct and behavior that is contrary to The Lexicon’s code of conduct will be automatically disqualified. This includes applicants proposing stories that openly discriminate against a social or ethnic group, advocate for a political group, incite violence against any group, or incite to commit crimes of any kind.
All submissions must be the entrant’s original work. Submissions must not infringe upon the trademark, copyright, moral rights, intellectual rights, or rights of privacy of any entity or person.
Participants will retain the copyrights to their work while also granting access to The Lexicon and the other partners of the initiative to share their contributions as part of A Greener Blue Global Storytelling Initiative.
If a potential selected applicant cannot be reached by the team of the Initiative within three (3) working days, using the contact information provided at the time of entry, or if the communication is returned as undeliverable, that potential participant shall forfeit.
Selected applicants will be granted access to an advanced Storytelling Lab taught and facilitated by Douglas Gayeton, award-winning storyteller and information architect, co-founder of The Lexicon. In this course, participants will learn new techniques that will improve their storytelling skills and be able to better communicate their work with a global audience. This skill includes (but is not limited to) how to build a production plan for a documentary, how to find and interact with subjects, and how to shoot a short documentary.
Twenty of the participants will receive a GoPro Hero 11 Digital Video and Audio Cameras by September 15, 2022. Additional participants may receive GoPro Digital Video and Audio Cameras to be announced at a later date. The recipients will be selected by advisors to the program and will be based on selection criteria (see below) on proposals by Storytelling Lab participants. The selections will keep in accordance with Lab criteria concerning geography, active participation in the Storytelling Lab and commitment to the creation of a story for the Initiative, a GoPro Camera to use to complete the storytelling lab and document their story. These recipients will be asked to sign an acceptance letter with terms of use and condition to receive the camera.
The Lexicon provides video editors, graphic designers, and animators to support the participants to complete their stories.
The submitted stories will be showcased during international and local events, starting from the closing event of the International Year of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 in Rome, in January 2023. The authors of the stories will be credited and may be invited to join.
Storytelling lab participation:
Applicants that will be granted access to the storytelling Lab will be evaluated based on the entries they provided in the online form, and in particular:
Applications will be evaluated by a team of 4 judges from The Lexicon, GSSI and the team of IYAFA (Selection committee).
When selecting applications, the call promoters may request additional documentation or interviews both for the purpose of verifying compliance with eligibility requirements and to facilitate proposal evaluation.
Camera recipients:
Participants to the Storytelling Lab who will be given a GoPro camera will be selected based on:
The evaluation will be carried out by a team of 4 judges from The Lexicon, GSSI and the team of IYAFA (Selection committee).
Incidental expenses and all other costs and expenses which are not specifically listed in these Official Rules but which may be associated with the acceptance, receipt and use of the Storytelling Lab and the camera are solely the responsibility of the respective participants and are not covered by The Lexicon or any of the A Greener Blue partners.
All participants who receive a Camera are required to sign an agreement allowing GoPro for a Cause, The Lexicon and GSSI to utilize the films for A Greener Blue and their promotional purposes. All participants will be required to an agreement to upload their footage into the shared drive of The Lexicon and make the stories, films and images available for The Lexicon and the promoting partners of A Greener Blue.
