Elizabeth Nyboer to share how women are reshaping Lake Victoria fisheries

Overnight, more than 150,000 women working in fisheries around Uganda’s Lake Victoria lost their livelihoods. With their trade disrupted, their communities also lost a vital source of nutrition.   

Elizabeth Nyboer, assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, was in the middle of her research when it happened. On Sept. 18, she will share her findings during a free Global Development Discussion Series talk, but the story she tells begins on the shores of the vast East African lake.

Nyboer had been studying the social and ecological challenges of the region’s fisheries when many of the women she worked with found themselves suddenly pushed out of the industry. Lobbying from large fishing corporations led the Ugandan government to ban the gear used to catch mukene, a small, nutrient-rich fish.

“Overnight, with no consultation, no warning, no compensation, they banned the use of the gear,” Nyboer said.

She estimates that nearly half of the women who trade in Lake Victoria fisheries depend on mukene. “It's one of the most affordable entry points for women to get into fishing,” she said. “Many women make their entire living trading in this particular fish.” And because mukene is nutrient dense, it also provides critical food for their families.

Nyboer’s research examines how policy changes like the ban ripple through women’s lives and their communities. She notes that the lack of gender-specific data in sub-Saharan African fisheries has long hindered efforts to create equitable policies.

Women in fisheries are seldom, if ever, involved in conversations where decisions such as the mukene ban are made, Nyboer said. Many are excluded from political life, and for those who cannot read or write, traditional forms of advocacy remain out of reach.

“Our work focuses on finding ways for women to advocate for themselves in spaces where they have not traditionally been welcomed,” Nyboer said. “We need data that demonstrates how policies that disadvantage women ultimately carry far greater social and economic consequences for the country.”

She believes part of the solution lies in the women-led fishery networks emerging around Lake Victoria.

“When I was a doctoral student in 2016, the women I talked to in Lake Victoria fisheries often said, ‘We need to form groups.’ There was a lot of research in the development world at that time that showed how groups and social organizations are important.”

Now, she said, it is exciting to see “a proliferation of these women's groups in the last five to seven years.”

Most groups are less than a decade old and not yet focused on policy advocacy. Instead, they pool resources so members can access better fish processing technologies, purchase transport vehicles, or pay school fees for their children.

“I view this uptick of organized women’s groups in the fishing industry as a really big win,” Nyboer said. Not only have these groups helped women organize their funding streams to access better equipment, they have also helped Ugandan women join conversations about socio-ecological issues.

“Ten years ago, there were very few women who were actually making a good living from fisheries,” she said. “Now, not only is that happening more, but women are also attending scientific conferences and practitioner meetings.”

Her research shows these social networks provide essential support for women adapting to environmental stressors and policy shifts while also providing for their families.

“I believe that by documenting and deepening our understanding of women's experiences, we can move toward a future where women hold decision-making roles — where those most affected, such as in the case of the mukene fishing ban, have a voice in the process,” Nyboer said.

An opportunity to learn more

Nyboer will share more about her research, methods, and future plans at the Global Development Discussion Series at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 18 in the Goodall Room of Newman Library and via Zoom. To take part, register for the Global Development Discussion Series.

The series is co-sponsored by the Center for International Research Education and Development and Continuing and Professional Education, both units of Outreach and International Affairs.