FAO promotes training on Gender Transformative Approach for small-scale fisheries actors in Ghana

The Fisheries Commission, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has trained 36 participants (50% men and 50% women) representing 13 stakeholder groups, including small-scale fisheries actors, academia, civil society, government representatives, and fisheries officers on Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) from 15t to 18t February in Koforidua, Ghana.  The training was developed as part of FAO’s global project, Enhancing equitable, climate-resilient and sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) through the SSF Guidelines implementation. The initiative aims to support Ghana in developing a National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF).

The workshop sought to raise awareness and deepen knowledge of gender concepts and actions to support equality among key stakeholders involved in the National Task Force for the NPOA-SSF. It also aimed to help participants understand the differences between gender-responsive and gender-transformative interventions, while encouraging reflection on social norms and power dynamics affecting Ghana’s fisheries sector.

In his opening remarks, the Eastern Regional Director of the Fisheries Commission, Mr. Richard Yeboah, emphasized the importance of adopting gender-transformative approaches in fisheries governance. According to him, the workshop will empower stakeholders to integrate gender considerations into their work and ensure the active participation of men, women, and youth in sustainable fisheries management, enforcement, and resilience building.

Jennifer Gee, FAO Fisheries Officer, and Matteo Luzzi, Gender Expert, from FAO headquarters in Rome facilitated sessions on gender foundations, gender equality in small-scale fisheries, and gender-transformative approaches for food security and nutrition. Participants were also taken through topics including gender in fisheries value chains, mapping of time constraints for women and men engaged in fisheries and aquaculture value chains, and gender-sensitive value chain analysis.

During group sessions, participants identified gender-based constraints within different nodes of the fisheries value chain and examined their root causes. Breakout groups later presented priority actions related to their areas of work, leading to the development of a new theory of change from a gender-transformative perspective.

Madam Wradi B. Borley, a fish processor and trader, participated in the training and plans to build on what she is already doing by increasing knowledge and skills sharing within her community: “It would be important in the future to reflect on what was shared during the training to ensure that we maintain a gender perspective when encouraging community members, including men, to engage in more mutually supportive domestic roles, so that women’s workload can be eased. This could be done on Tuesdays, when women do not process and men do not go fishing, to ensure that community gatherings are effective and inclusive” - she stated.

The training is expected to enhance stakeholders’ knowledge and promote greater awareness of gender-transformative approaches within Ghana’s small-scale fisheries sector.


Learn more: 

• Chapter 8 of the SSF Guidelines on Gender equality 
• NPOA-SSF
• Enhancing equitable, climate-resilient and sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) through the SSF Guidelines implementation project
• SSF Guidelines country page for Ghana