Problems and Purpose

New research cites participatory mapping as a tool to enhance the participation of women in Mozambican small-scale fisheries governance. Small-scale women fisherfolk in Mozambique have historically been excluded from processes related to fisheries management. An emerging body of literature has begun to illustrate the negative implications of excluding women from these decision-making processes and reveals that their knowledge and participation are crucial in shaping good outcomes in small-scale fisheries governance. Participatory mapping has become a popular method of filling the gaps made by excluding women’s voices from land-related policymaking. Participatory mapping refers to how local communities create maps to better inform land-related policies. [1] In the context of fisheries governance, participatory mapping aims to empower small-scale women fisherfolk by including them directly in identifying understudied intertidal fishing grounds to better understand the social uses of intertidal resources. [2]

Background History and Context

National landings data have historically informed fisheries governance in Mozambique. [3] Reliance on national landings data is characterized by several shortcomings, such as a failure to capture trends and processes occurring at local levels and several of the complex social changes that both generate from and create changes to marine ecosystems. [4] In the context of many Global South countries, data from national landings are often incomplete and underestimate total catch, especially regarding the small-scale fisheries sector. [5] The problems presented by national landings data have also held true in the Mozambican context. The underrepresentation of small-scale fishers and fisheries in Mozambican nation landings can be attributed to several factors, such as political marginalization as a result of relatively low contribution to GDP. [6] The majority of women in Mozambican fisheries work in the informal sector,characterized by low productivity and income. [7] Therefore, small-scale women fisherfolk have significantly less decision-making to better shape fisheries policy to suit their needs and roles.

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

One of the collaborators involved in this initiative includes the Our Sea Our Life (OSOL) project. The OSOL is a fisheries co-management and livelihood development project that hopes to support the Mozambican government to meet its targets related to the Convention on Biological Diversity. [8] The Leading implementing partner of the OSOL project, the Mozambican non-governmental organization, Associação do Meio Ambiente (AMA), was responsible for leading the fieldwork. AMA led focus group discussions, worked with community leaders and fisherfolk, and assisted in mapping work in the field. [9]

Participant Recruitment and Selection

Participants for this study were recruited from Quiwia village in the Cabo Delgado Province of Northern Mozambique. The women of Quiwia village rely on fishing and agriculture as their primary sources of livelihood. Researchers used a particular set of criteria to pick the participants for the study, which was agreed upon by the field team and the village leaders. The participants included women over 18, who were familiar with the intertidal area, and regularly engaged in intertidal gleaning. [10] The village-vice leader was responsible for recruiting the fisherwomen involved in the study. This consultative approach of participant recruitment was critical in the context of a village such as Quiwia, where taking gender relations and local norms into account is critical for performing research activities.” [11]

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

The researchers began by having the participants identify harvesting zones used by women fisherfolk in Quiwia village. The participants identified 11 intertidal harvesting zones in total. The first week was spent familiarizing the participants with the Cybertracker application and testing how the smartphones worked in the intertidal areas. Participatory fishing ground mapping began after the initial pre-testing, and mapping of intertidal resources started shortly after this step. The researchers collected feedback on the usability of Cybertracker from the participants through informal interviews and direct observations. Finally, the data collected during the study was used to generate the maps and then verified with the participants.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The study found that women fisherfolk in Quiwia village could effectively utilize the Cybertracker application to map intertidal fishing grounds and resources that were pivotal to their livelihoods with minimal training and support. [12] The women fisherfolk participants of this study had little use for these maps themselves as they were already familiar with the areas, but the information provided in the maps is much more useful for policymakers. Governments and NGOs can use the information provided by the maps related to the size of fishing grounds and the location of crucial intertidal resources to help inform technical-scientific input for potential management measures. [13] However, the initiative was found to have economic and time-related opportunity costs for the participants. The study's researchers suggest that these costs can be addressed by offering the participants appropriate compensation for engaging in participatory mapping initiatives. Overall, participatory mapping was found to be a useful tool of communication between small-scale women fisherfolk and policymakers.

References

[1] Corbett, J. (2009). Good practices in participatory mapping: a review prepared for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

[2] Paul, S. A., Wilson, A. M. W., Cachimo, R., & Riddell, M. A. (2016). Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique: Opportunities and future directions. Ocean & Coastal Management, 134, 79-92.

[3] Blythe, J. L., Murray, G., & Flaherty, M. S. (2013). Historical perspectives and recent trends in the coastal Mozambican fishery. Ecology and Society, 18(4).

[4] Murray, G., Neis, B., & Schneider, D. C. (2007). Lessons from a multi-scale historical reconstruction of Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries. Coastal Management, 36(1), 81-108.

[5] FAO. (2011). FishStat Plus: capture production 1950–2011. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/software/fishstat/en 

[6] “Historical perspectives and recent trends in the coastal Mozambican fishery”

[7] ICEIDA. (2013). Support to the Fisheries Sector of Mozambique 2013-2017. Retrieved from https://www.government.is/library/01-Ministries/Ministry-for-Foreign-Affairs/Iceida/Publications/Support-to-the-Fisheries-Sector-of-Mozambique-2013-2017---Programme-Document-Common-Fund.pdf 

[8] “Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique” 

[9] “Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique” 

[10] “Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique” 

[11] “Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique” 

[12] “Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique” 

[13] “Piloting participatory smartphone mapping of intertidal fishing grounds and resources in northern Mozambique”