Working Lives, Health and Wellbeing of Tanzanian Fish and Seaweed Farmers - Building an Authentic Research Partnership and Implementation Strategy to Advance Better Working Conditions, Food Security, Gender and Health Equity in the Face of Globalized Aqua

Employment opportunities for women are increasingly recognized as a vital strategy for poverty reduction in view of overwhelming evidence of direct links between jobs and women's and children's health. When women are employed, they use their wages to feed and educate their children and support their families. Rates of infant mortality and population growth decline, thus improving additional prospects for global ecosystem health. These facts were recognized by the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health who called for "improvement of the well-being of girls and women and the circumstances in which their children are born". Research has shown that health risks can arise from structural gender inequalities which include lower education levels, lack of autonomy, societal preference for sons, barriers to land ownership and poorer access to employment and health care. Aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector in the world -employing 19.3 million people globally and more than 300,000 in Africa. Tanzanian women have been historically engaged in artisanal fishing and marketing which has provided fundamental sources of income and food for their families. Yet the emerging, more lucrative commercial aquaculture sector is increasingly dominated by men due to discrimination against women for jobs and in land ownership. Women are finding employment in post-harvest fish processing and marine seaweed harvesting which have been shown to be associated with adverse working conditions, inequitable economic benefits and significant life changes. Research on these conditions, inequities and impacts, in Africa, is scant to non-existent. The purpose of this application is to launch a research collaboration with an international research team and stakeholders through five days of meetings and site visits in Tanzania.The outcome will be a grant proposal that will examine these gender and health inequities in relation to fish farming and aquaculture work in Tanzania.