UNU-FTP and UNU-GEST present research on Gender Analysis at Social Science Conference

Joint research efforts of UNU-GEST, UNU-FTP and Matís were presented at the Þjóðarspegillinn Conference in Social Sciences held at the University of Iceland on October 30th. The aim of the conference was to introduce and share interesting research material from a broad spectrum within the Social Sciences in Iceland. Pétur Waldorff, senior researcher at UNU-GEST carried out the research project "Gendered Value Chain Analysis of Small-scale Fisheries and Fish Processing" Through financing of the UNU-FTP.

The research project explores the gendered dimensions of the small-scale fisheries sector in Kigoma on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Western Tanzania using the research methodology of gender-responsive value chain analysis. Its goal is to supplement the knowledge of gendered aspects of small-scale fish processing, which traditionally has primarily been the role of women in Tanzania. The approach examines how improved fish processing technologies affect the traditional small-scale fisheries value chain and gender-based roles within it.

Researchers applied a qualitative research methodology to collect data during an ethnographic field trip in August 2015, which will then be supported with an additional field work later in 2016. In Tanzania the value chain is described from fishing boats, through landing points, to fish processing on shore, markets, and finally to the consumer. In-depth interviews are conducted with stakeholders within each link of the value chain.

Preliminary results indicate that the value chain is highly gendered with formal and informal rules and institutions affecting people’s positioning within the value chain, supplemented by distinctive structural and individual constraints and opportunities for men and women to upgrade from lower to higher links within the value chain. The upcoming 2016 field research will focus on the socio-economic effects of the introduction of a new and improved fish smoking kiln into the value chain.

Dr. Pétur Waldorff is a senior researcher at UNU-GEST and Edda – Center of Excellence at the University of Iceland and at the Nordic Africa Institute (Nordiska Afríka Institutet) in Uppsala in Sweden. He received his Phd in social anthropology from McGill University in Canada in 2013.