Assessing participation of women along the fish market chain in Malawi

1. ASSESSING PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN ALONG THE
FISH MARKET CHAIN IN MALAWI
Mwale,L.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
P.O. Box 219
Lilongwe
Malawi
BACKGROUND
• Sustainable development of a nation denotes ability to maintain certain level of development
by all stakeholders. Achieving Sustainable Development in developing countries like Malawi
where more than 50% of its inhabitants are women calls for a participatory approach by all
stakeholders who are involved in this activity. Women play a crucial role in fisheries by
managing the post- harvest aspect of the sub-sector. Many of them are fully engaged in fish
handling, processing and distribution. In so doing they tend to influence the growth of the
fishing industry, which is important in terms of food security and poverty alleviation in
developing countries. (Bagachwa, 1994).
• With the increasing demand for fish and fish products the world over, there are great
efforts geared towards promotion of fisheries and aquaculture. Women therefore, have a
great role to play in fish farming and trade (World Fish Centre, 2008).
Fish ponds improving lives in Malawi ( Source: www.mw.undp.org)
HYPOTHESIS
• There is no significant relationship between selected demographic
characteristics (age, marital status, education level) of women and their level
of participation along the fish market chain.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
• The main objective of the study is to assess the participation of women along
the fish market chain. The specific objectives are to:
i. Describe the demographic characteristics of the rural women involved in
the fish market chain.
ii. Examine the participation of women at various stages of the fish trade
market chain.
iii. Identify the challenges militating against participation of women along
the fish market chain.
PROPOSED RESEARCH METHOD
• Fish traders will be interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data will be
summarized with percentages, means and standard deviation, while Chi-square
will be employed to make inferences from the hypothesis.
MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
• Dependent variable: The dependent variable for this study will be
conceptualized as level of participation of women in fish trade. It will be
measured by listing and scoring the natures of participation of women at each
stage of the fish trade value chain (fishing, processing, transportation, selling)
against a 4-rating scale of Very often (4), Often (3), Occasionally (2), Never
(1).
References
• Bagachwa D.S.M 1994. Fisheries Development in Tanzania, Published by The Macmillan,
London.
• World Fish Centre 2008.The World Fish Centre Publication on The Millennium Development
Goals: Fishing for Future. Bangkok: WFC.
• Fisheries and Aquaculture cluster proceedings: Participation of women in fish trade; A case
study of Tanzania pp 50-56
• Olalere A.B (2013): An Assessment Of Participation Of Rural Women In Community Based
Development Activities (Cbdas) In Osun State, Nigeria: Journal of Sustainable development
(Volume 15, No 7).
Project Fish Malawi, women fish traders. (Source: Levison Chiwaula)