Figure 4.23 Lamu Island character areas as main strengths for tourism

Additional adaptation options that could improve the adaptive capacity of the fish processing industry include: > Conservation of habitats important for fisheries (mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs); > Assessment and effective management of fisheries to be able to adapt to changes in stock. This may include adaptive management or co-management approaches; > Investment in equipment to enable larger vessels for longer trips to reach deep-sea stocks; > Marine forecasting and early-warning for storms; and > Protective structures (e.g. utilising coconut fibre from

Project 3: Coconut Processing) to maintain landing sites against erosion. This VC has high exposure to climate change, but the design of the infrastructure for the VC includes several measures that increase its resilience to climate change. In particular, coastal flooding is addressed through a combination of measures, including mangrove restoration, a living sea-wall, and breakwaters that will act to dissipate wave energy, and thus reduce flood risk. As such, the overall vulnerability is medium.

Gender and Social Inclusion Assessment

The development of the fish processing VC has immense potential to reduce food insecurity in the region, while generating new employment opportunities and fostering economic growth. As happens in other regions, however, the sector is traditionally regarded as being male-dominated. Yet, women and other groups have key roles in the development of this VC (mainly in pre- and post-harvest activities) and in the protection of marine ecosystems. Hence, this UEP offers the opportunity to mainstream gender and social inclusion, by proposing interventions that have the potential to enhance women, youth, elderly people, and PWD access to, and control over, fisheries resources and related economic activities. These interventions also aim at increasing SIGs participation in value added links of the VC. Below there is a summary of the findings from the GeSI study regarding the fish processing VC in Lamu Municipality. The detailed study is presented in the GeSI study (Appendix C).

Figure 4.23 GeSI assessment of the fish processing VC

Diagnostic

• Activity traditionally regarded as dominated by men. Young men are contracted by companies or owners of large boats to engage in fishing. Elderly people usually buy fish from younger people who fish in the deep sea. • Cultural beliefs and taboos against women’s participation. Women fish from the shore or engage in gleaning. • Women are key stakeholders in the conservation and reforestation of mangroves, crucial for sustainable fisheries. • Some local women in chamas have purchased their own fishing nets, which they rent out or loan out to fisherfolk. • SIGs often engage with this activity seasonally. • This sector is dominated by young men.

Transport to the island or mainland is done via speed boats. Some boats belong to women who hire young men to operate them. • Mainland transportation is dominated by men using lorries. Speed and lack of adequate roads often contribute to fish spoilage. • Boda bodas have also been identified as a threat for the elderly, children, and people with mobility impairments. • Engaging in boat transport requires a license but distances and costs limit the possibility to obtain it. • Transport services such as boda bodas and lorries charge high rates that are not accessible to many SIGs.

Fish Processing Value Chain

Social Inclusion Considerations Fishing Transport

• Skills development to support SIGs professionalization. Trainings in financial skills and management could enhance economic activities already developed by SIGs (e.g.: chamas saving to purchase fishing nets or gears that they rent or loan to fisherfolk). • Generate alternative employment opportunities (e.g.: maintaining or repairing damaged fishing nets). • Develop sensitization workshops on gender awareness to tackle harmful social norms that prevent women’s inclusion in the sector. • Continue and expand existent mangrove restoration programs to increase SIGs empowerment and participation in decisionmaking processes. • Develop trainings for men who engage in fishing and related activities (boat owners, fishing crews) to understand potential risks and possible actions to improve health and safety in the sector.

Use this to address GBV in the sector. • Develop trainings on safety and on how to adequately handle fish and weights.

Consider developing a certification system for transport operators. • The scheduled collection services represent new job opportunities, particularly for young men who already work in the transportation sector. If the collection services are to be booked online, it is recommended to liaise with local organizations workings towards closing the digital gap to make these opportunities accessible to vulnerable groups without mobile phones or digital skills. • Support SIGs, particularly youth, with obtaining licenses for boat transport. • Women buy fish, process it through smoking, drying, or frying, and sell it in markets. This requires a large quantity of wood fuel (time and money burdens).

Processing also requires obtaining a health certificate. • Women and other SIGs often lack access to adequate infrastructure for storage or transportation (i.e.: cold storage) which leads to fish spoilage. • Existent funds require paying back with interests and this is not an option for Muslim communities. Funds that require collateral are not an option for many SIGs. • Lack of accessible infrastructure and equipment in factories, and lack of knowledge, skills, and training. • Women usually act as fish traders (small scale businesses, selling dried, smoked or fried fish to local communities). Large-scale fishing trade is dominated by men. • Women’s access to markets are constrained by social norms that restrict women’s mobility and travel. • As it happens with other SIGs, there are barriers to access credit. Moreover, women often lack control over savings and credits. • Gender-based violence (GBV) such as sexual harassment or transactional sex for fish may also hinder women’s participation in male-dominated parts of the VC. • Other SIGs also engage in the sale of fish.

However, PWD have stated that there are no accessible vending spaces and infrastructure at available fish markets.

Processing Sales

• Provide accessible and inclusive infrastructure and technologies for men and women (that predominate in capture fisheries, and in artisanal fish processing). Ensure these are accessible to all (e.g.: step-free cold storage, possibility to book with mobile phones to be more accessible for women, etc.). • Train SIGs in the use of labor-saving technologies or safer tools (e.g.: ovens for fish processing). Systems such as

‘rent-to-own’ could be implemented. • Develop inclusive financing options for SIGs and low-income groups that do not require collateral or that are

Sharia-compliant • Ensure workplaces adopt principles of universal design and respect quotas for PWDs’ inclusion. Provide mothers’ rooms at processing factories, childcare arrangements, or link women to community day-care facilities. • Tackle discrimination through awareness campaigns at a community level. • Provide accessible and inclusive infrastructure and services (i.e.: marketplaces, roads, transport, etc.) and encourage the use of digital markets. • Develop inclusive financing options for

SIGs and low-income groups. • Promote SIGs and their participation in existing cooperatives. Provide support for, and accessible information about, acquiring business certificates. • Offer trainings on soft skills: ensure these trainings (e.g.: business and entrepreneurship skills, financial literacy and numeracy) are available and accessible to SIGs, people with low literacy levels and other groups. • Train women and other SIGs as broker agents to reduce GBV and discretionary prices. Implement a program where women with successful businesses mentor women that would like to be entrepreneurs. • Complement these actions with awareness campaigns to address GBV.

Case Study 4.14 - Successful stories of women’s inclusion in the fish processing VC118

A recent study from FAO presented the work of the Kolokol Ewola Women’s Group (a sub-group of the Turkana Women’s Group) in Northern Kenya, a group engaged in the sale of handmade baskets. With a percentage of the savings collected from their basket sales, the group decided to invest in a fishing boat. Now this is their main income, and they sell fresh and dried fish in Nairobi, Uganda and Rwanda. The FAO study quoted the group chairperson: “Culturally and traditionally, Turkana women do not fish. Now that we have a boat, we go out on the Lake with our sons and nephews. we have cut out one of the links in the fish supply chain”. This diversification has been particularly relevant to face the declining market of palm leaf baskets in the country.

The same study also highlighted another success story in Kenya. In communities surrounding Lake Victoria men usually catch fish and sell it to processors or traders, who are usually women. These women, as is the case in LM, often face challenges when processing fish; when they dry it in the sun and it is not dried in time, it is sold as animal feed at very low prices. And, when selling fish, they do not have access to information about other markets outside their own villages, and only a few women can travel to other markets since social norms and competing responsibilities often restrict their mobility. Hence, they rely on brokers (often women) who often give them very low prices.

With a project financed by the ILO, the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute developed a fish market information network, which makes market information accessible to women who can access the network via mobile phone. In particular, this has allowed them to attract and negotiate with brokers, obtaining better prices and more stable incomes.

118 FAO, Good practice policies to eliminate gender inequalities in fish value chains (2013).

Case Study 4.15 - Successful stories of youth economic empowerment in fisheries (VijaBiz)119

The Mayungu High Vision Women’s Group wanted to start a business selling fish in their local markets in Kilifi County. However, they faced challenges associated with the lack of business and entrepreneurship skills, and traditional social norms that restricted their mobility. Thanks to the VijaBiz initiative they worked with their husbands to sensitise them on the importance of their wives having access to training, and they took training courses on book-keeping, record-keeping, and using WhatsApp and social media. The group also faced challenges in transporting produce from the port to their shop. With project support they bought their own boat which, alongside their increased presence on social media, has allowed them to increase sales, and they have also purchased a motorbike to help deliver fish to the shop.

Shibe Delta Enterprises, a group in Kilifi working in fish farming, also attended Vijabiz courses on record-keeping and passed their knowledge onto other group members. When they were ready to expand their business they formed a supply selection committee, and conducted a market analysis (e.g. distance, cost-effectiveness and potential to save money in the long term). This allowed them to expand their activity to five fish ponds, while saving a significant amount of money. They have also started to make their own fish feed.

Njoro Fish Farmers initially sold their fish on-site due to a lack of cold storage facilities. With a Vijabiz grant they purchased deep freezers, an oven, a generator, cooler boxes and a weighing machine. The cold storage increased the shelf life of the fish by five days, increasing their income. The group now aims to install their own fish feed plant and sell produce that they do not need to local farmers to diversify their livelihoods.

119 CTA, Growing Rural Youth Agribusiness in Kenya: Stories and Best Practices Of The Vijabiz Project (2020).