After weeks of meetings with national authorities and partners, they suggest a plan to improve living and working conditions for women fish processors
Since mid-March, social distancing and other restriction measures have progressively been applied by the Ivory Coast government to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Women in artisanal fisheries, organized via the Union of cooperatives USCOFEP-CI, have left no stone unturned to ensure the continuation of their activities so that food can be on the plate for their families but also for the Ivorian population. Fish accounts for an average of 22% of protein intake in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries, this exceeds 50%.
“It is not possible for women in small-scale fisheries to stop their activities because, given their small means, they live from day to day,” explains Micheline Dion Somplehi, president of USCOFEP-CI. “Women fish vendors, for example, have to go out and sell the little fish they can buy every day, otherwise their families have nothing to eat.
Restriction measures to fight Covid-19 pandemic are taking a terrible toll on artisanal fisheries as the men and women involved have close contacts at all stages of the value chain. However, for USCOFEP-CI women, prevention is key and this is why, from the last weeks of March, they have been sensitizing in several landing sites for people to keep social distancing and to respect hygiene measures. “We raise awareness so that people wash their hands when they enter the market, and wear gloves”.
The demand for these hygiene products has increased in this turbulent period and USCOFEP-CI women several times had to contribute from their savings to buy the sanitary kits. In some landing sites, they control the access to reduce the amount of people interacting and forced every client to wash their hands.
But for USCOFEP-CI women, this health crisis shows the lack of decent working and sanitary conditions in artisanal fisheries, and they see this pandemic as an opportunity to address these issues. After several discussions with the fisheries ministry, they have identified a series of recommendations, which include measures to fight against Covid-19, coupled with a long-term plan to improve their working conditions.
Banner photo: COVID-19 measures sensitization visit of USCOFEP-CI with the fisheries minister to a fish processing site/USCOFEP-CI.
Sources: USCOFEP-CI.