Retno prepares Blimbingsari grilled fish (©FAO/Harriansyah)

A group of women engaged in fish processing activities in Banyuwangi has successfully increased the income of fisher families by 40%.

In 2017, Retno Setyowati's family relocated to Blimbingsari, a fisher village near the beach, 20 kilometers from Banyuwangi's center in the far east of Java Island, after facing a setback in their leather business in Bali.

Retno's husband purchased a small boat and became a fisherman, but their income declined sharply due to lack of business. Retno, who has only studied up to junior high school, struggled to find a job to support her family. She decided to use her cooking skills to make a living.

"I started with only 100,000 Indonesian Rupiah (around 7 USD) and cooked everything I knew, like nasi tempong, grilled fish, pepes, and sambal," she said.

Her business slowly progressed, and in 2020, she was invited by Dinas Perikanan, the government agency of fisheries  in Banyuwangi to join an empowerment program for women's groups in coastal areas. With her group Berkah Abadi, which translates to Eternal Blessing, Retno learned how to expand her business by improving production methods, diversifying products, and using digital marketing for promotion.

"After the training, I learned how to package grilled fish and sambal. This helped me send the grilled fish to other cities. I now sell my dishes through Facebook and Instagram," she said.  She uses vacuum packs to send the grilled fish to other cities.

Her embracing of digitalization did not stop at social media. She now understands digital reviews. She asks every customer who visits her stall to provide her a review on Google. “They can just send me a WhatsApp message, and then I upload their comments on my Instagram and Facebook," she said.

With the new approaches and expanding business, Retno's income has  increased by around 40%.

Retno is just one of the success stories among dozens of women involved in the project "Implementing the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines for Gender-Equitable and Climate-Resilient Food Systems and Livelihoods," a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) in Indonesia. The program has trained approximately 102 women in Banyuwangi's coastal areas.

There are four women's groups in Banyuwangi's coastal area receiving direct benefits from the program: Berkah Abadi in Blimbingsari Village, Srikandi Mulia in Tembokrejo Village of Muncar District, Mekar Jaya in Tegalrejo Village of Tegaldlimo District, and Kelompok Karya Bunda in Sumberagung Village of Pesanggaran District.

“We have to carefully select the women's groups involved in this program. We need businesses that are ready to scale up. With the training and networks, the women's groups can expand their businesses, as we see now," said Alief Rachman Kartiono, the head of the fisheries agency in Banyuwangi District, regarding this program.

The important roles of women in Indonesia's small-scale fishery

Women play important roles in Indonesia's small-scale fishery. They contribute to nutrition and income for communities, with over half of the fisherfolk being women. Banyuwangi District stands out as a leading contributor to capture fisheries in the East Java Province.

They primarily engage in fishery product processing and marketing, playing significant roles in wealth generation, preservation, and household nutrition fulfillment. However, their contributions often go unnoticed.

The FAO and MMAF have conducted various training and mentoring activities to enhance the capacity of women's groups in Banyuwangi. The programs focus on awareness raising, building organizational skills, business development, and improving the quality and competitiveness of processed fish products.

Retno said the benefit of joining the training from FAO was that she could meet other entrepreneurs. She made more friends and expanded her business network. There are 11 women in her group, and she engages with them, sharing her ups and downs.

“I have friends here. We try to move forward together and promote each other's businesses," she said.

Sharing sessions among entrepreneurs became a platform for sharing experiences, knowledge, and skills.

The groups have also benefited from facilitated access to markets, such as selling their products at the Car Free Day event held every Sunday in Banyuwangi's city center.

Imbalance Role of women in decision making process 

The interventions aim to promote gender equity and inclusivity in small-scale fisheries, ensuring women have a voice in decision-making processes.

Recent FAO surveys conducted in Banyuwangi have revealed that although women have nearly equal access to fishery activities, almost 70% of them have a limited decision-making role over the use of income generated from these activities.

This highlights the imbalance in women's roles within the economic sphere. 

A global FAO report in SSF mentioned that women account for 40% of those employed along the value chain and engaged in subsistence activities. But women’s work is often invisible, informal and underrecognized, and women do not take part in decisions that shape their situation or impact the value chains in which they engage for livelihoods, food security and nutrition.

"Women play a central role in promoting fish as a source of nutrition and daily consumption," said FAO Representative Rajendra Aryal in Indonesia and Timor Leste. “With the right kind of opportunities and access, Retno and other women like her can be an inspiration for millions of rural women in Indonesia,” added Aryal.