ABSTRACT

In Uganda, the long-term socio-economic costs of wastage in the post-harvest sector of the fisheries involve more than the loss of income and nutritional benefits to fisherfolk communities and their dependent consumer populations. Such losses are serious enough in themselves. But established methods of fish processing also place great pressure on valuable and often increasingly scarce timber stocks. From a forestry and environmental management standpoint, this too amounts to a kind of “post-harvest loss”, and is indeed part of a wider complex of events associated with recent developments in the Uganda fisheries.

The present paper reviews these events of change, and draws attention to such underlying factors as “the Nile perch effect” in Lake Victoria, shifting channels of product distribution and marketing, and the consequences of a prolonged period of deterioration in the country's infrastructural network. Discussion goes on to cover experiences with attempts to ameliorate fish and forest product losses through the use of improved traditional processing technology on the one hand, and more industrial, capital-intensive handling and distribution methods on the other. Finally, future prospects for meeting the array of socio-economic and environmental problems and challenges posed by the “post-harvest loss complex” are identified.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This is one in a series of Field Reports by the Socio-Economic Working Group of FAO/UNDP Project UGA/87/007, Fisheries Statistics and Information Systems (FISHIN). Socio-Economic Field Reports (SEC Fld Rpts) are intended as occasional working documents/ briefs/notes covering on-going Group activities, issued for the information of Project team members and other interested colleagues. Length, format, and content vary according to the type and scope of activity reviewed (field trips, surveys, studies, workshops, etc.). It is cautioned that observations and findings presented in the Reports should be treated as preliminary and subject to further verification. Correspondence, comments, and suggestions are welcomed and may be forwarded to: J.Eric Reynolds, Socio-Economic Advisor, UGA/87/007, FAO/UN, P.O. Box 521, Kampala, Uganda.