By Indika Arulingam - Likimyesh Niguisse - Sonali Senaratam - Sellamuttu - Liza Debevec IWMI for the 2019 ReSAKSS Conference

1. Youth participation in small-scale fisheries,
aquaculture and value chains
Indika Arulingam, Likimyelesh Nigussie, Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu and Liza
Debevec

2. Overview
Objective: To take stock of the current status in relation to
the engagement of youth in small scale fisheries and
aquaculture and value chains in 8 FISH focal countries in
Africa (Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia) and the Asia-
Pacific.
Methodology
• Review of peer-reviewed and gray literature: 98
publications
• Key Informant Interviews: 20 interviews
Largely desk-based study.

3. Introduction
The population of those from ages15-24
expected to reach 1.3 billion by 2050 (FAO et
al. 2014).
At present, nearly 90% of individuals aged
between 10 and 24 years live in low- and
middle-income countries (Blum and Boyden
2018).
In Africa, only 3 million job opportunities are
created for the 11 million individuals who enter
the job market this year (ADB 2017).
Widely believed that youth are leaving behind
livelihoods in agriculture, for other options
(White, 2012).

4. Findings
Definition of youth
• Youth as a social category is highly contextual -
defined not only by age but also gender,
education, marital status, engagement with the
labour market, and other factors (Pyburn et al.
2015).
• In some cases the definition of youth has a
gendered angle. For e.g. women can be expected
to act more as adults after puberty, as certain
cultural restrictions set in.
Country/institution Youth age bracket
Egypt 18-30 (Sika 2016)
Nigeria 18-35 (MoYD 2009)
Tanzania 18-35 (MoLYD 2007)
Zambia 15-35 (MoYS 2015)
African Union 15-35 (AUC 2006)

5. Cont’d
Data on youth in Fisheries and aquaculture
• Youth involvement in aquaculture, small
scale fisheries and value chains is under-
studied (FAO, 2016). One of the reasons for
this is lack of reliable statistics.
• Data on the participation of young women
and girls are even more sparse, as in many
cases, fish processing is carried out within
the households (FAO 2016c ).
• From what is known, for most youth, the
fisheries sector is not the first choice of
employment (KIIs)

6. Cont’d
Gaps in policies
• In some cases sectoral polices and programs
consider women and youth as “disadvantaged” or
“vulnerable” groups, leads to generalizations of
characteristics and needs of the groups.
• Also, these policies consider youth without other
intersectional identities, and fail to consider
different forms of engagement within the value
chain nodes. This leads to an assumption that a
single approach is sufficient to meet needs of the
group (te Lintelo 2012).
• Encouraging big fish farms and giving less
attention to small farms which are dominated by
women and youth, systematically lea (KIIs).

7. Constraints
Participation
• The positioning of women and men in the SSF and
aquaculture value chains frequently takes on a
gendered dimension, with certain niches such as
processing and post-harvest activities (e.g.,
marketing) carried out by a higher number of
women.
• It is a common trend, globally, for export production
plants to employ women, due to the lower wages
that could be paid to female employees, and their
perceived docility and nimbleness at work (Kibria
1998).
• While doing these types of work, women (including
young women) face discrimination in terms of work
and pay in addition to the danger of various forms of
harassment (Nuruzzaman et al. 2014; Bene and
Merten, 2008 )

8. Cont’d
• In the aquaculture sector in Africa, the “Big 5” entry
barriers that limit the engagement of youth as
owner-operator – high quality and affordable seed,
feed, capital, markets, decision making, and
knowledge – can be further extended to include
land.
• Further amplified in the case of young women
(Adesugba and Mavrotas, 2016; FAO, 2014), While
young people might face certain constraints due to
age, with time, young men are able to shed this
dependency, while young women might continue to
face similar or other constraints due to gender
relations and social norms (Pyburn et al. 2015).
• Ecosystems with diminishing productivity
(Venkatachalam et al. 2010)

9. Cont’d
Access to land
• Most young people in the study countries do not own
land, unless they inherit it from their parents.
• Among the youth, young men have the opportunity to
inherit land from their parents. However, due to large
family size and small land size, not all young men in a
given household have the opportunity to inherit land
from their parents. This challenge is further magnified
in the case of women due to cultural restrictions.
• Although government policies provide equal land
rights for men and women, effectiveness of such
policies is curtailed by lack of social legitimacy
(Agarwal 1994).

10. Key Opportunities
• Employment and entrepreneurship
opportunities in the fast growing
aquaculture sector (Hishamunda et al.
2014)
• Moving down the value chain beyond
primary production might hold potential
(KIIs)
• Opportunities with increased integration of
ICT technologies (still to be tested) (KIIs)

11. Four pathways for a more youth-inclusive program
under FISH
• Understanding the impact of economic, political
and social shifts at global-national-local levels on
youth involvement in aquaculture and small-scale
fisheries.
• Analysis of the policy architecture that impact
youth involvement in aquaculture in small-scale
fisheries.
• Understanding youth aspirations and perceptions
of aquaculture and small-scale fisheries.
• Building a youth-oriented approach to aquaculture
and small-scale fisheries.

12. Follow up field-based study
Study Site: in Oyo, Ogun, Lagos and Anambra
states of Nigeria.
Research questions
• How do SSF and aquaculture policies and
target young men and women?
• What are the opportunities and challenges for
youth to participate in SSF and aquaculture?
• How do the above two questions interact with
aspirations of young men and women?

13. Thank you