The role of the WIF South Africa Workshop in addressing the challenges faced by women fisherfolk in South African fisheries by building their leadership capacity to make South Africa’s small-scale fisheries more equitable and accessible for women.
Problems and Purpose
The WIF Workshop was designed to provide a forum for women fisherfolk to come forward and discuss the unique challenges they face within the South African small-scale fisheries sector. Despite the reforms South Africa introduced to small-scale fisheries policy in 1994, the new changes still largely failed to address the gender disparities that characterized the allocation of rights to marine resources and the discrimination women faced within the fisheries sector. [1] The workshop helped women voice their experiences and concerns about the marginalization they experienced in the South African small-scale fisheries sector.
Background History and Context
Women in the South African small-scale fisheries sector have historically made substantive yet undervalued contributions. The South African fisheries sector has been historically characterized by a sharp gendered division of labour, in which women were expected to fulfill the majority of the pre-and-post harvest activities, whereas men performed most of the work at sea. [2] However, these roles began to shift after the introduction of changes to fisheries policies which rearranged the allocation of fishing rights, mechanization, and declining fish stocks. [3] The South African government introduced the Marine Living Resources Act (MLRA) in 1998, which aimed to grant citizens equal access to the benefits and resources from fisheries. [4] However, the MLRA still largely undermined the rights of small-scale fishers by not giving recognition to those involved in the post-harvest sector一of which women make up the majority. [5] The act ultimately reinforced the marginalization of women fishers by neglecting to provide sufficient measures to protect and uphold their fishing rights, food security, and overall livelihoods. [6] Ultimately, the shortcomings of South Africa’s fisheries policies made initiatives such as the WIF workshop necessary.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The Masifundise Development Trust and the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) supported and facilitated this workshop. Through social agency and self-organization, the Masifundise Development Trust aims to support and uplift small-scale fisherfolk through mobilization, lobbying, and advocating for legal recognition and sustainable livelihoods. [7] The ICSF is an international NGO that hopes to promote equity, gender-mainstreaming, self-reliance, and sustainability within the small-scale fisheries sector. [8]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The workshop was initially intended to have participants from all four coastal provinces in South Africa. However, it was not possible to recruit women from all the provinces due to challenges presented by the policy process, diversity in experiences between the different provinces, language differences, and costs. [9] The workshop recruited 43 female participants—with 35 women leaders—from the Western and Northern Cape of South Africa.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
During the workshop, 35 women leaders from various fishing communities came together to comprise new small-scale fisheries policies proposals, focusing on issues related to gender. [10] After examining and analyzing the draft policy proposals through a ‘gender lens,’ the participants created a statement that outlined their demands. The overall message of the statement claimed that women have historically played a substantive role within the South African small-scale fisheries sector and thus deserve to have sufficient representation on a policy level. [11] The participants agreed during the workshop that the statement would be sent to government at various levels. They had also drafted an action plan for participants to take at all levels of government, such as contacting their local government representatives.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
More research is needed on the direct impacts of the WIF workshop. However, it is expected that the workshop will empower women fisherfolk to advocate for changes in small-scale fisheries policy by giving them a greater capacity for political mobilization.
References
[1] Sunde, J. (2010). Recasting the Net: redefining a gender agenda for sustaining life and livelihood in small-scale fisheries in South Africa.
[2] Harper, S. J. (2019). The contributions by women to fisheries economies worldwide (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia).
[3] Swartz, E. (2013). Women and the management of household food security in Paternoster (Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University).
[4] “The contributions by women to fisheries economies worldwide”
[5] Joshua, M., Isaacs, M., & Dennis, T. (2017). Bottom-up accountability initiatives to claim tenure rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: Country Report on South Africa.
[6] “The contributions by women to fisheries economies worldwide”
[7] Masifundise Development Trust. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.masifundise.org/about/
[8] International Collective in Support of Fishworkers. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.icsf.net/about-icsf/
[9] “Recasting the Net”
[10] “Recasting the Net”
[11] “Recasting the Net”
