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WEBINAR: How African Women Fish Processors and Traders Network (AWFISHNET) are responding to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic – a perspective from North, West and East African women representatives

THURSDAY 8 JULY 2021 from 13:00 – 14:00 SAST/CAT

PLAAS invites you to a webinar on ‘How African Women Fish Processors and Traders Network (AWFISHNET) are responding to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic – a perspective from North, West and East African women representatives

The speakers include:

  • Lovin Kobusingye, Chair of the Ugandan Chapter of AWFISHNET
  • Jawhara Chahbani, Member of AWFISHNET, Tunisia
  • Oluwafunmilola Shelika, Chair of the Nigerian Chapter of AWFISHNET

The webinar will be chaired by Malebo Hellen Moepi, PhD student at PLAAS, University of the Western Cape.

African Women Fish Processors and Traders Network (AWFISHNET) is a non-profit continental network with members from 28 African nations working to improve the full participation of women in fisheries and aquaculture sector. AWFISHNET intends to expand its territory in all the 55 African Union Member states with support from the African Union Commission and other Technical and Developmental partners.

Fisheries and aquaculture sectors like any other economic sector are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of particular interests are women actively involved in fish farming, post-harvest handling, processing, sales, distribution, packaging and marketing of fish. They provide labour in commercial and artisanal fisheries in addition to unpaid reproductive work and contributes to household food security, livelihoods and household incomes. Women’s activities are crippled by limited access to capital, limited participation in policy decision; high costs of fish production; limited information sharing on prices, markets, and training and educational opportunities, among others. The work of women is often undervalued and usually receives less pay for the same work as compared to their male counterparts. Covid-19 worsened the dire situations of women engagement in the sector.

We invited three members of AWFISHNET to hear women’s perspective from the East, North and West African regions narrowing the discussions to the national and regional context.

This webinar will discuss these questions:

  1. What are the major impacts of Covid-19 on women involved in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, to be specific with regards to your businesses?
  2. What has been your coping mechanisms and how this has changed the way you operate?
  3. What activities has AWFISHNET undertook to help women during this pandemic?
  4. What policy measures can be adopted to support women in this era?

Tune in on Thursday 8 July 2021 at:

  • 13:00 South African Standard Time (SAST)/Central African Time (CAT)
  • 12:00 West African Time (WAT)
  • 11:00 Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) (Ghana)
  • 14:00 East African Time (EAT) (Tanzania)

Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZeKe9-1M6o Or scroll down to view it.