Women's role in fishing communities: the cases of Koko, Delta State in Nigeria
by
Stella Williams,
Economist
Introduction
As in most coastal countries, fish in Nigeria represents a much appreciated source of proteins. As a consequence, fishing provides jobs for a large number of the population and women are highly involved in this activity, namely from the catches to the marketing of the final product.
Macro-economic aspects
With an area of 200 nautical miles, Nigeria has abundant fishery resources. Thanks to the convergence of many effluents of the Niger river, the Delta region is in a particularly favourable position for the development of fishing activities. This region alone produces 63,400 tons of fish. There are three types of fishing: artisanal, fish farming and industrial.
In the Koko region it is artisanal fishing which prevails. The populations consider themselves as the descendants of the gods of the sea and the river. For more than twenty years, because of the difficulties related to the drought of the Sahel, marine artisanal fisheries is the main source of supply for the population in fishery products.
Fishing is practiced all year long on board motorized boats or canoes propelled by paddles. Fish is caught with gillnets, set gillnets, lines, hoop nets, as well as other traditional gears used in most communities. More than 90% of the artisanal catches are processed. It is in this sector that women are the most involved.
Women in fishing activities
Contrary to women in fishing communities in other African countries, Nigerian women take part in fish catching. Less active in the open sea, they are present on rivers, lagoons, and lakes. However, their preferred fields are preservation, processing, storing and marketing of fishery products.
Preservation methods vary from one place to the other, but the most common are smoking, salting, and frying. Smoking is the most common processing technique and is done traditionally.
Once processed, the fish is conveyed to the central market of Koko every Tuesday for marketing. Important quantities are kept for the "Carrefour" market, the largest, which takes place on Wednesdays and attracts consumers from every part of the country. Fish is more expensive there
Most shed owners employ fishmongers who further retail the fish. Marketing also takes place outside Koko community. The processed fish is conveyed on board canoes.
Apart from catches, preservation and marketing activities, women also weave hoop nets with reed used to catch shrimps and make baskets of cane that are used as traps. Women are also involved in the purchase and sales of fishing equipment like hooks, threads used to make lines, buoys, nets and other fishing material. Moreover, they provide the equipment fishermen need before going to sea, especially lamps and kerosene.
Women are also involved in income generating activities likely to help the family and community to survive. Some women work in agriculture, others are small traders.
The use of income generated by fishing
The average income of a Koko woman involved in fishery related activities is higher than that of a woman civil servant. One fourth of this income is spent on family subsistence. Another fourth is spent on children's schooling, and the fourth is spent on the purchase of domestic items and clothing. Finally, 10% of this income is used to repay debts because it is very common that women borrow money from usurers, cooperative groups or even from members of their own family to raise the capital of their activities.
Relationships between men and women in the fishery sector
In the traditional behaviour code of the Koko fishing community, the woman is the essential partner of man. As such there is an admirable cordial relationship between man and woman. An evidence is that during night fishings alongside rivers, men are always looking for women fishing units.
Another evidence of this cordial relationship is that the two cooperatives of the community (the Onoritsebawo Fishing Unit and the Ogben farmers Program for family support, a polyvalent cooperative) are mixed. Because of the respect women enjoy in the community, the managers of both cooperative are women. The activities of women's associations existing in the community (three) are directed to the improvement of living conditions, without discriminating against men. On the whole, men and women in the Koko fishing community have a close coexistence and collaboration despite the difficult living and working conditions women face.
Difficulties of the Koko community
Like all the fishing communities in Nigeria, Koko fishing community is going through a difficult time, all the more as most fishing inputs have become too expensive further to the devaluation of Naira, the local currency. Moreover, the assistance in cash and kind granted by national and international agencies has reduced considerably.
As women are at the same time in charge of the household, they have more responsibilities than men, especially when their husband, a fisherman, is laid off by the boats owner. Thus, although the income generated by women's economic activities in the Koko community is interesting, well-being is seriously affected by the family size and the number of persons to take care of: an average of 8 persons per household. The major part of the income is spent on food and there is almost nothing left for family comfort, namely electricity and running water.
Suggestions for improving women's living conditions
As the individual contributions from members of various organizations are not sufficient to raise the marketing capital, leaders of the Koko community call for outside help. Similarly, they would want the companies that manufacture fishing material and equipment, to sell their goods to the populations on credit.
In addition, there is the training in management. Koko fishermen, like fishermen in other Nigerian states, would like to have a training programme fishery resources and credit organized by projects, financed by the World Bank. Women in particular, would like to participate in commercial exchange excursions which would open up new markets for the distribution of fishery products. For all of them, the establishment of an infrastructure likely to bring well-being (electricity, running water, hospital, schools) is a wish that the government is progressively trying to fulfil.
Conclusion
The socio-economic and demographic characteristic; of Koko women are similar to those of rural women in fishing communities all over the world. Organised in three associations, women are decided to fight for their destiny without discriminating against men. They simply need a little help which, in addition to the training in credit management, would provide them with training in improved fish handling and processing technologies, training in accountancy and financing of small scale businesses as well as training in setting up an efficient network of working relations.
