Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Women fish traders and entrepreneurship: case studies from a coastal fishing community in Nigeria

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The arena of everyday life

Part of the book series: Mansholt Publication Series ((MAUSHOLT,volume 12))

  • 373 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter summarises findings from a study of women entrepreneurs in Ibaka, a coastal fishing community in Nigeria, and looking at the opportunities offered them by the fishery, their achievements, and the strategies adopted against institutional constraints. Data collection was through case studies. The fish trade is a gendered activity, providing incomes for women and their families. Bonga, big fish and crayfish traders were identified, operating as large, medium or small-scale traders. They mobilised trading capital from several sources, adopted GSM phones and crossed several spheres in their entrepreneurship. Incomes earned from fish trade were diversified into non-fish economic activities, as insurance, and for sustainable livelihoods.

This article is a revised version of the presentation Entrepreneural Women and Institutions in Ibaka Fishing Community, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. This paper was presented at the 2010 Annual Conference of the International Association For Feminist Economists (IAFFE) at Buenos Aires, Argentina in July 2010.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adewale, J., & Ikeola, R. (2005). Resettlement coping strategies of women settlers around dams in Nigeria: a case study of Erelu Dam in Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria. Journal of Human Ecology, 17(3), 177–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aidoo, A. (1970). No Sweetness Here. London, UK: Longmans.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barth, F. (ed.), (1963). The Role of the Entrepreneur in Social Change in Northern Norway. Bergen, Norway: Universiteitsforlaget.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bortei-Duku, E., & Aryeetey, E. (1995). Mobilising cash for business: women in rotating susu clubs in Ghana. In: S. Ardener and S. Burmer (eds.) Money-go-Rounds: The Importance of Rotating and Savings Credit Associations for Women (pp. 77–95). Washington, DC, USA: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1985). The forms of capital. In: J.G. Richardson (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241–258). New York, NY, USA: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, G. (1994). Onions are my Husband: Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women. Chicago, IL, USA: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fafchamps, M., & Gabre-Madhin, E. (2006). Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi. AfJARE, 1(1), 67–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fafchamps, M., & Minten, B. (2002). Returns to Social Network Capital Among Agricultural Traders. Stanford, CA:USA: Department of Economics, Stanford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2007). Fishery Country Profile: Federal Republic of Nigeria. Rome, Italy: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fapohunda, E.R. (1988). The non-pooling household: a challenge to theory. In: D. Dwyerand, & J. Bruce (eds.) A Home Divided: Women and Income in the Third World (pp. 143–154). Stanford, CA, USA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, K.T. (2004). Rethinking the Akan household: acknowledging the importance ofculturally and linguistically meaningful images. Africa Today, 51(1), 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House-Midamba, B., & Ekechi, F. (1995). African Market Women and Economic Power: the Role of Women in African Economic Development. London, UK: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M.A. (1977). Female Entrepreneurial Styles; an Examination of Coastal Fante Businesswomen. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, C., & Van Tilburg, A. (2007). Food Marketing. In: J. Middleton and J. Miller (eds.), New Encyclopedia of Africa, Vol. 2. Detroit, MI: Scribner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moll, H., Van der Staaij, F., & Van Tilburg, A. (2001) (eds.). Smallholders and Markets: Towards a Conducive Environment. Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Policy and Best Practice Document: 8. The Hague, the Netherlands: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, M.H. (1990). Civilised Women, Gender and Prestige in South-Eastern Liberia. London, UK: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nazneen, A., Peerlings, J., & Van Tilburg, A. (2007). Market imperfections. In: Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Less-Favoured Areas (pp. 111–131). Wallingford, UK: CAB International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niehof, A. (2004). The significance of diversification for rural livelihoods. Food Policy, 29(40), 321–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niehof, A. (2007). Fish and female agency in a Madurese fishing village in Indonesia. Moussons, 11, 185–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oppong, C. (1981). Middle Class African Marriage: a Family Study of Ghanaian Senior Civil Servants. London, UK: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overa, R. (1996). Entrepreneurial Women in Ghanaian Canoe Fisheries: Three Life Stories. Available at: http://www.fou.uib.no/fd/1996/f712002.

  • Overa, R. (1998). Partners and Competitors: Gendered Entrepreneurship in Ghanaian Canoe Fisheries. PhD Thesis. Bergen, Norway: University of Bergen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overa, R. (2001). Institutions, Mobility and Resilience in the Fante Migratory Fisheries of West Africa. Working Paper. Bergen, Norway: Chr. Michelson Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overa, R. (2003). Gender ideology and manoeuvring space for female fisheries entrepreneurs. Research Review (NS), 19(2), 49–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research, Academy of Management Review, 25 (1), 217–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Tilburg, A.(1992). Competition at rural markets in South Benin. In: L. Camman (ed.) Traditional Marketing Systems, German Foundation for International Development (pp. 101–112). Feldaffing, Germany: DSE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Tilburg, A. (2001). Livelihood diversification of farming households in Northwest Sierra Leone. UPWARD Series on Rural Livelihoods. Wageningen, the Netherlands: UPWARD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uchendu, C. (1995). The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria. New York, NY, USA: Holt, Reinhart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • USDA (2007). Nigeria Fishery Products, Nigeria Fish Markets. Global Agriculture Information Network Report No. NI7026. Washington, DC, USA: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verstralen, K., & Isebor, C. (1997) Conditions socio-économiques des pêcheuses, transformatrices de poisson et mareyeuses de Ogheye, Nigeria. Lettre du DIPA (IDAF Newsletter), 36, 20–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, S. (1999). The socio-economic potentials of women in riverine small-scale fisheries in Nigeria. In: Proceedings of Women’s World 99, the 7 th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women. Tromsø, Norway: University of Tromsø.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria, Nigeria

    Ekaete Udong

Authors
  1. Ekaete Udong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Carja Butijn Johan van Ophem Gerda Casimir

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Wageningen Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Udong, E. (2013). Women fish traders and entrepreneurship: case studies from a coastal fishing community in Nigeria. In: Butijn, C., van Ophem, J., Casimir, G. (eds) The arena of everyday life. Mansholt Publication Series, vol 12. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen. https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-775-2_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation