Part I of this report has been organized as follows: Section I seeks to highlight the importance of artisanal fish processing and trading activities in the West African context. Section II summarizes the initiatives that have been taken to promote intra-regional trade in the West African region. Section III provides a brief overview of fish processing and trading activities in the region. In Section IV the problems and constraints that are experienced by women fish processors and cross-border traders in their work are synthesized. And finally, Section V provides recommendations to policy-makers for strengthening artisanal fish processing and trading activities. The report draws heavily from secondary sources, supplementing it with observations and primary level data collected during the course of the study. The second part of the report contains case studies of selected fish processing areas, fish trading circuits and fish markets in selected countries of the West African region. It also includes case studies of some women fish processors and traders from the region.
