This advocacy is being championed by the Women’s Network of Artisanal Fisheries of Senegal (REFEPAS).
The processing of fish products draws crowds in Senegal, but the implementation of international standards leaves much to be desired.
To reverse this trend, the USAID Senegal project “Dekkal Geej”, implemented by Winrock, is coaching women processors to make more profit from this activity.
In doing so, they launched a plea on Tuesday in Dakar for the finalisation of the decree on the regulation of the artisanal processing of fisheries products.
They invited the Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy to take all necessary measures to ensure the finalisation of the decree.
In a statement read at the end of a workshop on “the professionalization of the artisanal processing of fisheries products: progress and the next steps,” Ms. Diaba Diop, the REFEPAS president stressed that the lack of professionalization in the industry processing fisheries products is a constraint to the economic development of women and the sustainability of fishing.
Ibrahima Lô, head of the artisanal fisheries division, said that a good part of fisheries production is processed in an artisanal way, but lamented that the sector suffers from a lack of legislation because there is no decree that regulates it.
“As a result, the women who work in this sector have witnessed the role of many foreigners who compete with them. It is therefore necessary to proceed with the signing of a decree that will regulate the profession to professionalize it and make it much more attractive” Lô said.
According to him, the draft decree has been in existence since 2017.
TE/lb/as/APA