Well-being among Fisherfolks in Africa Research (WELFARE)

The project starts asking if poverty in small scale fisheries really is as serious as one may get the impression of or if some of the misery may be is produced by research. The project is inspired by and a continuation of a previous project on African small-scale fisheries research funded by the research council. By looking at the main results of the earlier project and confront them with recent findings in poverty research this project identifies five fields of research which is considered of great importance to poverty producing processes: a) the flexibility of existing production systems b) the professional mobility of the fishermen c) local access regulating mechanisms d) trade systems e) technological changes Through use of case studies in Southern Africa the project will analyse processes of change within these empirical research fields and see how they are affected and how they affect four different types of impoverishment processes: i) economic exclusion ii) social marginalisation iii) class exploitation iv) political disempowerment Comparative analyses will be performed, both within the cases undertaken in the Southern African region, but also between differences in developments between Southern and West Africa. The project is a collaboration between CMI and a number of African research institutes.

Publications from collaborating institutes:

Hara, Mafaniso (2009). "Crew members in South Africa's squid industry; whether they have benefitted from transformation and governance reform". Marine Policy. 33(3): 513-519.

Isaacs, Moeniba and Hara, Mafaniso (2008). Mainstreaming of HIV and Aids into South African Fisheries Policy. PLAAS Research Report 39. Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies. South Africa.

Malasha, Isaac (2008). Fisheries Co-management, Mobility and Poverty Alleviation in small-scale fishing: examples from Lake Kariba (Zambia). Mimeo.