Abstract
Domestic marketing networks in inland small-scale fisheries (SSF) provide food and income to millions of the rural poor globally. Yet these contributions remain undervalued, as most trade is informal and unmonitored, and inland fisheries overlooked in research and policy. Taking a commodity chain approach, we provide a case study of access arrangements governing how people come to enter and benefit from the freshwater fish trade on Tanzania's Rufiji River floodplain. We conducted a repeat market survey, interviews, and participant observation with actors at all levels of the district trade over 15 months. Gender, age, and social capital structured participation patterns, with younger men dominating the more lucrative but riskier fresh trade, older men prioritizing steady income from smoked fish, and women culturally constrained to selling a “cooked” product (i.e., fried fish). Nearly all participants were local, with traders drawing on a complex web of relationships to secure supplies. The majority of market vendors cited the trade as their household's most important income source, with women's earnings and consumption of unsold fish likely to have substantial benefits for children's well-being. Our findings reveal a resilient and pro-poor trade system where, starting with small initial investments, people overcame considerable environmental, financial, regulatory, and infrastructural challenges to reliably deliver fish to rural and urban consumers. Preserving the ecological integrity of Rufiji wetlands in the face of hydro-power development and climate change should be a priority to safeguard the livelihoods and well-being of local inhabitants.
Highlights
Fish are critical to food security in the Global South both directly, by supporting diets and nutrition, and indirectly, by providing a source of cash income for the purchase of staple foods and other essential goods and services (Kawarazuka and Béné, 2010; Béné et al, 2015; Thilsted et al, 2016; Hicks et al, 2019)
An estimated two-thirds of fish destined for direct human consumption are caught in small-scale fisheries (SSF), with that estimate rising to 90% for SSF operating in inland waters, supporting the food needs of billions (FAO, 2016)
Our study of a rural, informal freshwater fish trade demonstrates the ability of local inhabitants to overcome considerable environmental, financial, and infrastructural challenges to reliably deliver fish to rural and urban consumers, and illustrates the unique position SSF hold in supporting the nutritional and economic needs of those who need it most (Cohen et al, 2019)
Summary
Fish are critical to food security in the Global South both directly, by supporting diets and nutrition, and indirectly, by providing a source of cash income for the purchase of staple foods and other essential goods and services (Kawarazuka and Béné, 2010; Béné et al, 2015; Thilsted et al, 2016; Hicks et al, 2019). The need to recognize, support, and enhance the essential welfare functions of SSF is behind the development of Voluntary Guidelines for the sector (FAO, 2015) but the critical importance of inland fisheries for meeting multiple Sustainable Development Goals—including SDG 1 “No Poverty” and SDG 2 “Zero Hunger”—are overlooked on the global development agenda (Lynch et al, 2020)
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