UNU-GEST, UNU-FTP and Matís joint research presented at the University of Iceland

Pétur Waldorff, senior researcher at UNU-GEST carried out the research project Gendered Value Chain Analysis of Small-scale Fisheries and Fish Processing. His research partner Mary Frances Davidson, project manager at UNU-FTP, presented the preliminary results of the research project during a poster session at the Þjóðarspegillinn Conference in Social Sciences held at the University of Iceland on October 30th.

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 a gender-responsive value chain analysis. The 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 be supported with an additional field work in early 2016. In-depth interviews are conducted with stakeholders within each link of the value chain. In Tanzania the value chain is described from fishing boats, through landing points, to fish processing on shore, markets, and finally to the consumer.

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, developed by Matís.

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 in Uppsala in Sweden. He received his PhD in social anthropology from McGill University in Canada. 

Mary Frances Davidson is a Project Manager at the United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme.