Smoked fish is a delicacy in West Africa, making fish smoking the most important and widely used method for preserving fish. Fishing communities have poor access to fresh fish. What also drives the preference for this method is the scarcity of electricity, resulting in a lack of cold-chain facilities. Fish smoking is also a means of product differentiation.

Fish smoking is a gendered activity here, dominated by women operating popular traditional or local fish smoking kilns such as smoking platforms or altars, barrels/drum kilns, mud kilns, Chorkor kilns, Altona kilns, Banda kilns and firewood as the main fuel or energy source.