Women in Nigeria play a key and vital role in the Fisheries value chain in Nigeria especially when we look at their involvement in the marine, artisanal and Aquaculture sub-sector of the Fisheries Sector. The women who constitute the greater percentage of the fish mongers/ processors represent the first segment of the fish market chain; buying fresh fish directly from the fishermen. The fish is either sold fresh by the women, or processed by smoking. In the aquaculture sector the women also play key roles in buying and processing. The women in the fisheries value chain are often grouped into Cooperatives Societies though we have a very, very few that go solo. However, the women’s activities in the value chain are characterized by low capital and technology input. Women’s work in fish value chain has not been optimized/ linked to value chain finance in Nigeria – thus they are limited to various financial services being put up by the commercial banks for the Agricultural Sector in the Country. This lack of Corporate
finance has in essence debar the women from upgrading their fisheries activities and businesses in the various steps along the fisheries value chain and they have thus not been able to build sustainable and viable fish trade especially when it comes to the export of their fish and other fishery products.