Working with fishing communities in rural Mozambique
In Mozambique, over 80% of the labour force are employed in agriculture and rural development. The majority of people live in coastal zones, and at least one million Mozambicans benefit from fishing activities. This type of rural employment also contributes to food security for disadvantaged rural communities who are vulnerable to drought and hunger.
We’re working with the Institute for the Development of Small-scale Fisheries (IDPPE) to improve support to artisanal fishing communities, by providing training and new equipment. The project also helps fishing communities to set up micro-finance associations, which will benefit thousands of families across three Mozambican provinces – Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo.
In 2004, we placed development worker Sarojakshan with IDPPE to train fishermen on good fishing practices and how to use nets to maximise catches.
Manuel Gulamo (50), a fisherman who lives in Bairro de Puli near Angoche with his wife and 12 children, is part of this project: “I’ve always been a fisherman. In Angoche we can’t do anything but fish as there’s nothing else to do to earn money. Fishing means I can give food to my family.”
He’s been on Sarojakshan’s training sessions and learnt how to improve his techniques and fish responsibly: “IDPPE gives us nets and teaches us how to construct good gill nets and how to hang them. Now we use scientific methods… we catch more fish and they’re bigger. The more fish I catch, the more I have to sell, and this means I can buy uniforms for the children so they can go to school and I can buy better food. We’re also taught not to use mosquito nets because fishermen who use these catch eggs and small fish which is very bad and if they keep using them there’ll be no fish left in the sea.”
Nihumame Essiaca (50) lives in the same region. He is married with six children and has been a fisherman since 2001.
Nihumame (left) started working with IDPPE and Sarojakshan (right) in 2007: “Before I became a fisherman I was a farmer, but I prefer being a fisherman as I can provide for my family better. One of the problems with being a fisherman is that when it is windy the sea is not good and I can’t catch any fish. Working with IDPPE is good. Since I joined we have set up an association with some of the other fishermen. We’ve learnt how to use savings and are opening up a bank account. I now catch more fish than before I was working with IDPPE, and I can negotiate a better price when selling the fish. This is very important as I can provide more for the family and now we have more food.”
To find out more about how you can support people like Manuel and Nihumame, why not take a look at some of our fundraising ideas...