Building the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organisations

Abstract

The Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organisations was formed in 1999 under a fisherfolk organisation development project. The aim was for this national body in fisherfolk governance to strengthen the capacities of its local level organisation members. Its evolution from origin to the present illustrates the complexities of capacity development at organisation and individual levels. The former concerns building organisational resilience while the latter is about sustaining livelihoods. Poverty strictly in terms of income, food security and nutrition are not major issues in Barbados, but the fisheries sector lacks an effective collective voice. Hence, fishery workers report feeling less recognised and entitled than workers in other economic sectors. Poverty has evolved conceptually to also consider self-organisation and collective action, consistent with resilience thinking. These new dimensions are important in Barbados. In participatory action research comprising mostly workshops and interviews, the organisation was investigated using an integrated framework for analysing aspects of governance, livelihoods and organisational resilience. The evolution of the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organisations was not linear, and it was impacted by factors favouring both its success and failure to become a resilient fisherfolk organisation. Implementing the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) is the current focus for the organisation’s capacity development. Examining fisherfolk perspectives on how they will go about developing capacity for and through the SSF Guidelines provided further insight into organisational resilience. Lessons learned from this case are applicable to similar Caribbean fisherfolk organisations.