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Gender relations in dried fish value chains

A recent paper in Maritime Studies by Madu Galappaththi (DFM student), Andrea M. Collins, Derek Armitage, and Prateep Nayak (DFM Co-Investigator) explores gender relations in dried fish value chains through the lens of social wellbeing and intersectionality.

Galappaththi et al. explore gender relations in dried fish value chains, proposing an analytic framework that links gender, wellbeing creation, and intersecting structural oppressions within dried fish value chains, with an overarching focus on relationality.

Their work draws on three case studies: (1) The seasonal fish drying workforce at Nazirartek, Bangladesh, which includes local inhabitants, migratory workers from elsewhere in Bangladesh, and Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar; (2) local Tanzanian women and women from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who trade in dried Nile perch in Mwanza, Tanzania; and (3) Tamil fishing communities on Mannar Island, Sri Lanka, who engage in fish processing and selling, and whose traditional livelihoods have been impacted by civil war.

The authors suggest that by focusing our attention on gender relations in such contexts — the “relational construction of gendered roles, responsibilities and restrictions, and how they often uniquely disadvantage women” — we might better critique the power structures embedded in value chains, providing a better understanding of marginalization, agency, social wellbeing, and the complexities of women’s lived experience.

Selected constraints faced by women in dried fish value chains. Galappaththi et al. write: “Despite the diverse benefits mediated through social and cultural relations, women face significant constraints within dried fish value chains that perpetuate gender inequities and undermine their wellbeing. Existing dried fish scholarship, however, does not provide a complete account of these constraints. We supplement existing (limited) dried fish research with insights drawn from small-scale fisheries research to explore the key constraints faced by women”.

Reference

Galappaththi, Madu, Andrea M. Collins, Derek Armitage, and Prateep Kumar Nayak. 2021. “Linking Social Wellbeing and Intersectionality to Understand Gender Relations in Dried Fish Value Chains.” Maritime Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-021-00232-3.

The purpose of this perspective paper is to advance a comprehensive framework to integrate gender within the study of dried fish value chains. We do so by linking three complementary areas of scholarship: social wellbeing, intersectionality, and value chains. Social wellbeing literature emphasizes the range of benefits generated through dried fish value chains (e.g., social ties, cultural values, and material goods). An intersectional perspective, however, brings attention to the relational structures (e.g., caste, ethnicity) that intersect with gender to uniquely position women and men within value chains in relation to the benefits they can generate. In developing this framework, a key point of departure from existing literature is the notion of relationality (i.e., the creation of experiences in relation to one another within a given context). The value chain analysis further reveals how such unique positions determine the wellbeing outcomes women can generate through their participation in value chains. We demonstrate the contribution of this novel framework by applying it within dried fish case examples from Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka. In doing so, we systematically unpack how gender intersects with other structures of oppression and perpetuate gender inequity. Our framework thus results in a ‘thick description’ of gender relations operating in dried fish value chains. The insights that emerge can inform relevant policies, decision-making processes, and programs to ensure the creation of equitable wellbeing outcomes by those participating in dried fish value chains.