Fishers, like farmers, are not just men. Millions of women around the world work, paid or unpaid, in the fisheries sector. Although women are mainly involved in the tasks that come before and after the fish are hauled out of the water, they may also be there for the catch or the harvest.

An FAO project to equip small fishing communities with the tools and know-how to dry fish on simple raised racks instead of on the sand has changed lives along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi.

An FAO project to equip small fishing communities with the tools and know-how to dry fish on simple raised racks instead of on the sand has changed lives along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi.

“We are all women working here,” explains Vilma Choquecota Choquecota, of the Pomata District in Peru. “It hasn't always been easy. It has been a bit difficult to convince people, including our husbands, that we could approach organizations, because we are all women. But we have shown we can do it. We have worked, we have learned, and we have done this for our children.”

A group of women have transformed an abandoned piece of land into a flourishing community garden, growing fresh, nutritious vegetables for their own community and for sale in nearby towns and villages.