Abstract
The concept of livelihood resilience provides a unique framework for understanding challenges in complex social–ecological systems (SESs) and fostering sustainability. Despite the crises many small-scale fisheries (SSFs) are facing, few studies have operationalized the concept in the context of declining SSFs in developing countries. This study aims to assess the resilience of artisanal fisherfolk livelihoods and its predicting factors in three fishing communities—Elmina, Jamestown, and Axim—in Ghana. A total of 1180 semi-structured interviews were conducted with fishers, fish processors, and mongers. Descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyze the data. The results show that the livelihood resilience of fisherfolk increases with an increased level of education and varies by gender. Male fisherfolk with secondary/post-secondary level education had the highest proportion (50%) of more resilient livelihoods. Only 36% of female fisherfolk with secondary/post-secondary level education had more resilient livelihoods. While 40% of male fisherfolk with no formal education had less resilient livelihoods, the livelihoods of half (51%) of females fisherfolk with no formal education were less resilient. The sociodemographic characteristics including wealth status, dependency ratio, marital status, religion, and ethnicity; contextual factors (community); and other relevant factors (experience in fishing, membership of fisherfolk association/group, and beneficiary of livelihood interventions) were found as predictors of the resilience of fisherfolks livelihoods. The findings suggest that interventions towards improving the livelihood resilience of fisherfolk need to consider individual- and household-level characteristics, as well as contextual factors such as marital status, religious affiliation, ethnicity, wealth status, dependency ratio, community, etc.
Highlights
Small-scale fisheries around the world are experiencing crises [1]
Biosocial factors considered in this study study are are gender gender (male, female) and in this and age age
A total of 1180 fisherfolk were included in this study
Summary
Small-scale fisheries around the world are experiencing crises [1]. This has been attributed to some pervasive multiple stressors occasioned by climate and human activities. The rising spate of adverse climate change impacts, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, overfishing, and pollution is a toxic cocktail that threatens many fish stocks [2,3,4,5,6,7]. In Ghana, these pressures are exacerbated by the evolution of a very destructive form of IUU practice popularly known as “saiko” [8]. This, together with other illegal activities that pillage the nation’s small pelagic fish stocks known as the “people’s fish,” is emboldened by the nearly open access and weak governance regime [11]. According to the EJF (2019), the practice costs more than 50 million
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