COVID-19 impacts on women fish processors and traders in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights and recommendations for building forward better

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying responses to mitigate this global health crisis have resulted in substantial disruptions to demand, production, distribution and labor in fisheries, aquaculture and food systems. These disruptions have severely impacted women processors and traders, who play a critical role in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors and associated food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. And yet, COVID related data and responses have tended to be gender-blind or overly representative of men’s experiences and needs in the sector. As a result, policy and investments run the risk of compounding COVID-19’s noted exacerbation of inequalities. This report aims to address this gap and avoid this risk. It synthesizes the impacts on some of the two and a half million women who work across Africa trading and processing fish (FAO et al. in prep). The report then puts forward recommendations for national and regional policy and development actors engaged in sub-Saharan Africa. Implementing these recommendations will enable sector responses and investments to be more inclusive, equitable and effective.