Despite many campaigns to end the practice, sex-for-fish trade in Lake Victoria is still prevalent. However, women are now taking it upon themselves to end the practice which has led to the spread of HIV/Aids in the region. A project dubbed No Sex For Fish aims to end the practice known as Jaboya in Dholuo.
The project, spearheaded by Victoria Institute For Research and Environmental Development International (VIRED), seeks to empower the women to own boats and employ fishermen. The project, which began in 2011, operates in Nyamware, Nduru and now Ogenya beaches in Kisumu East district.
Women groups in Nduru and Nyamware already have 10 boats and three are being constructed for a widows group in Ogenya.
VIRED’s field officer Dan Abuto says the project was started by Dominic Maclow who was a Peace Corps volunteer with the organisation and a physics teacher at Nyamware Mixed Secondary School.
“During his interaction with villagers, he discovered that the practice was rampant here. He began efforts to have it ended,” Abuto says.
He adds: “The project aims to address jaboya as a public health issue, lessen poverty and gender inequality while being both sustainable fiscally and environmentally.”
The projects, Abuto notes, gives women boats which are the means of production and they recruit fishing crews. “From the proceeds they make, they repay the cost of making the boat. The repayment money is pooled to construct more boats, increasing the number of women involved in the project whose ultimate aim is to empower them financially and stop the spread of HIV/Aids.”
Pamela Auma is the chairperson of Ogenya No Sex For Fish Group. Auma is excited at the prospect of the group owning three boats.
“We have learnt a lot from our counterparts in Nyamware and Nduru. We are looking forward to the completion of the construction of our boats. We can’t wait for the launch,” an excited Auma told the Star as she monitored the construction of their boat.
She admits that Sex For Fish is rampant and will be a thing of the past if women own boats. “As a widow, I will be able to get a lot of money to pay fees for my children and save as a group so that we buy more boats.”
2014 AllAfrica