The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) has signed a US$2 million loan facility agreement with Conservation International (CI) to empower women in the fisheries sector of Liberia.
Women fishmongers remain the economic engine for the artisanal fisheries sector, as they are the medium through which the fishermen get revenue from their catches of fish supplied to the market.
However, women face post-harvest losses due to factors such as lack of access to appropriate technology, preservation tools, and storage facilities, among others. The nature of women’s businesses in the fishing or related sectors—which are usually informal and small —makes women-owned businesses less attractive to commercial banks.
NaFAA Director General, Emma Glassco, said during the signing ceremony that the loan facility is meant to find a solution to address these issues facing women in the fisheries sector.
She said that women’s empowerment is an integral part of nation building and development.
“Empowering a woman will have a greater impact on both the socioeconomic and economic development of the family,” she said.
According to her, in order to transition Liberian fisheries from artisanal to semi industrial, the need to invest in women’s entrepreneurship development cannot be over-emphasized.
“This project is a very significant step in addressing this socio-economic problem affecting women in fisheries. The project is expected to provide financial support to women-owned businesses and also provide a mix of soft and hard skills training, such as supporting informal businesses with formal registrations, negotiation skills, leadership training, and innovative initiative,” she explained.
She mentioned that it will aid in the process of reducing post-harvest loss, introduce new fish handling and processing techniques in order to ensure their businesses can generate profits and remain sustainable.
“It is expected to engage financial institutions to target women entrepreneurs as a viable market and enhance their financial products offering through hands-on financial literacy, business management training for women-owned small and medium enterprises.
She assured the fishing community of continued mobilization of support to all players in the fisheries sector to ensure economic growth.
“This project is the achievement of a milestone in fulfillment of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development Pillar 2, which emphasizes the maintenance of macroeconomic stability, building good infrastructure, and providing a business-friendly environment that can stimulate private productive investments and create more and better-quality jobs that are germane to sustaining the peace and to future economic growth,” she explained.