From Fisher wives to fish vendors: Gendered livelihood transitions in a fishing village in Egypt

Abstract

Like women in fishing communities elsewhere, the women interviewed as part of this study play a pivotal in the fishing sector. When there is an aggravated depletion of fish capture in this coastal area, households witness very gendered livelihood transitions. Able-bodied men mostly seek livelihoods elsewhere. The women left behind face a situation of poverty and multiple transitions at the household, market and community levels. While the supply chain of farmed fish provided livelihood opportunities to these women, the transition was fraught with perils and challenges both at the market and household levels. Capital, in its different human, financial, and social forms, defines to a greater extent the parameters of these livelihood transitions.