Capacity-Building Workshop for Women’s Groups, Associations, and Cooperatives in African Small-Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture
The AUDA-NEPAD, together with the FAO and AU-IBAR, co-organised a capacity-building workshop for women’s groups, associations, and cooperatives in African small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. The workshop was hosted by the Tanzanian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MLF) and was held in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania (URT), from 5–7 December 2023. A total of 63 representatives from women’s groups, associations, and cooperatives from 24 countries gathered together, under the flagship of both AU and FAO fisheries programmes and projects including the AU’s FishGov2 project, and the FAO’s Coastal Fisheries Initiative (CFI) and Fish4ACP project.
The 3-day event served as a useful platform to enhance the organizational and development capacities of women’s groups, associations, and cooperatives involved in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture across Africa, and offered an opportunity to strengthen connections between the groups and to share experiences among women fish processors and traders across the continent. Training sessions covered a range of relevant topics including gender and female leadership, governance of cooperatives, business planning and accounting, entrepreneurship, investment planning and negotiations, management of credit savings groups and innovative and strengthening advocacy and awareness for the African Women Fish Processors and Traders Network (AWFishNet). Participants were also able to gain hands-on experience and exchanges through field visits organised to an entrepreneurial seaweed processing business, a fish landing site and a fish processing site close to Dar es Salaam. Expressing a strong appreciation for the knowledge gained from the workshop, participants made a strong call for continued training and capacity development efforts by the AU and development partners.