Africa is betting big on fish — and, unusually, on the women and young people who have long done most of the work for the least reward. A continent-wide programme backed by TradeMark Africa, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the Mastercard Foundation aims to create or improve more than 242,000 jobs for women and young people in fisheries, and to lift regional trade in fish and fish products by at least US$100 million by 2028.
The headline numbers are ambitious. But the story that matters most for fishing communities — in Africa and in India — came in October 2026, when a new safeguarding assessment warned that trade growth without safety measures could leave women more exposed, not better off. Growth, the assessors said, must be safe trade, or it is not inclusive trade at all.
Programme at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Programme | Women and Youth Economic Empowerment in Fisheries Programme (also styled “through Inclusive Market Access”) |
| Partners | TradeMark Africa, AfCFTA Secretariat, Mastercard Foundation |
| Launched | June 2024 (TradeMark Africa official programme page) |
| Jobs target | More than 242,000 jobs created or improved for women and young people by 2028 |
| Trade target | At least US$100 million additional trade in fish and fish products by 2028 |
| Where | Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Nigeria, across 11 border crossings, with later expansion to selected island states |
| Implementing partners | Lattice Aquaculture, Kilimo Trust, MicroSave Consulting |
| Service providers | WorldFish and the Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women |
| Safeguarding assessment | RSK Africa, covering Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; reported October 2026 |
| Application window | None advertised — this is a programme, not an open call. Follow TradeMark Africa and WorldFish for country-level activities. |
Why women, and why now?
Africa’s fish market is worth an estimated US$22 billion a year and demand is growing, according to WorldFish. The programme’s logic is simple: feed, hatcheries, farm services, processing, storage, transport and trade can all support businesses and jobs — but only if women and young people can move out of informal, low-margin roles and into the parts of the value chain where the money is.
Today, the imbalance is stark. The safeguarding assessment, citing FAO data, notes that women make up nearly a quarter of the world’s fishers and fish farmers and more than 60% of those working in processing — yet on Lake Victoria, more than 90% of fishing vessels are owned by men and just 0.1% by women (FAO, 2019, as cited in the assessment). Many women traders therefore depend on male boat owners for access to the catch itself.
That dependency, the assessors found, exposes women to exploitation, including gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. Cultural norms confine many women to shore-based processing and petty trade, excluding them from fishing and from decision-making. Thin savings, little collateral and credit products not designed for them make it hard to build the capital needed to trade on equal terms.
Reporting systems exist — national helplines, one-stop centres and police gender desks operate in all three assessment countries — but they are concentrated in towns and cities, leaving remote fishing communities with little practical access to reporting and support.
What the programme actually does
The programme is built around removing structural barriers, not handing out one-off grants. Its stated lines of work are:
- Training — business management, marketing, quality control and improved processing, plus financial literacy training paired with awareness of intimate partner violence.
- Finance — partnerships for inclusive finance, so women and youth enterprises can access credit designed around their realities.
- Market linkages — stronger supply-chain connections, simplified trade rules, compliance with standards, and streamlined cross-border market access at 11 border crossings.
- Digital solutions — online learning, market information, record-keeping and traceability tools.
- Standards and safety — food-safety training, responsible fishing and waste management, plus environmental screening of programme activities.
A vivid example of the programme in action comes from WorldFish. Its initiative Catalyzing Sustainable Fisheries for Job Creation: Feed Innovation, Aquaculture Intensification, and Waste Valorization in Nigeria and Tanzania aims to create or enable 25,000 dignified jobs for women and young people between July 2026 and June 2028. It works on cheaper feed formulations, stronger hatcheries and seed systems, improved drying and smoking technology, cold chains, and turning fish waste into useful products — in Tanzania and in six Nigerian states (Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, Ogun and Ondo). At the time of WorldFish’s 14 October 2026 update, the design was being refined with government agencies, businesses, financial institutions and organised groups of women and young people, with baseline assessments and participant selection still to come.
The safeguarding plan: what changes on the ground
The October 2026 assessment does not just diagnose problems; it recommends concrete protections to be built into the programme’s core activities:
- “Safe Trade” and “Men Against Violence” campaigns that engage men and boys as allies in preventing gender-based violence.
- Confidential, multi-channel reporting supported by trained focal persons at landing sites.
- Anti-harassment procedures for border corridors, so women can trade across borders safely.
- Low-cost “quick wins” at landing sites and markets — better lighting, sanitation, safeguarding signage and secure spaces — which the report says measurably reduce harassment risk, particularly after dark. Well-designed sites in Tanzania and Kenya are cited as models to replicate.
- Longer-term ownership pathways — widening women’s routes to owning boats, gear and businesses, to dismantle the dependency that drives exploitation.
The assessment also flags an environmental risk that rarely makes headlines: human–wildlife conflict around these waters has increased in recent years, with crocodiles and hippos able to attack people who feel threatened. Safe working in these environments, the assessors say, is vital for personal safety and for conservation goals alike.
TradeMark Africa’s Business Competitiveness Director, Anataria Uwamariya, put the programme’s philosophy plainly: “Inclusive trade must also be safe trade. This assessment gives us and our implementing partners the evidence and opportunity to embed strong social and environmental safeguards across the programme, from training rooms to landing sites and border crossings.”
What this means for Indian fishing communities
This is an African programme, and Indian fishers cannot apply to it. But its lessons travel well — and they echo debates already live on India’s own coasts:
- Ownership beats assistance. The single most powerful safeguard in the report is not a helpline but a boat title: when women own the means of catching and trading, dependency — and the exploitation it enables — falls. The same logic applies to women’s fish-vending and processing collectives in India.
- Lighting and toilets are safety infrastructure. The “quick wins” — lights, sanitation, secure spaces at landing sites — cost little and cut harassment risk after dark. Every Indian landing centre upgrade should be judged partly on this test.
- Reporting must reach the shore, not just the town. A helpline that only works in a district headquarters does not protect a woman trader at a remote landing site. Trained focal persons at the landing site itself are the model worth copying.
- Processing is where value is captured. Better drying, smoking and cold chains turn a perishable catch into a product women can price, store and transport — the same lesson from 93 women in Madagascar who lifted profits by over 10% through collective processing and marketing.
Readers following the wider women-in-fisheries story should also see Ghana’s pledge to raise women’s participation in fisheries science, the UN Women warning that the ocean crisis is a women’s crisis, and Ghana’s Small-Scale Fisheries Academy growing from 8 to 20 communities.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply for this programme? No open application window is advertised for the programme as a whole. Activities run through country partners and implementing organisations; watch TradeMark Africa and WorldFish announcements for Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the other programme countries.
Are the 242,000 jobs already created? No. The figure is a target for 2028 — jobs to be created or improved — not a count of jobs delivered so far. Treat any claim otherwise with scepticism.
Why does the programme talk about five years in some places and four in others? TradeMark Africa’s official programme page describes a four-year initiative launched in June 2024; RSK’s October 2026 report describes a five-year joint initiative. We report the June 2024 launch and the 2028 targets, which both sources agree on, and avoid asserting a single duration where the programme’s own partners differ.
Does the programme cover India? No. Its countries are in Africa. The value for Indian readers is the model: safeguarding built into trade growth, and ownership and landing-site safety treated as economic policy, not charity.
Sources
- RSK Group — “US$100m in fisheries trade centre of 242,000-jobs plan” (safeguarding assessment by RSK Africa across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; targets, partners, FAO vessel-ownership figures, recommendations; read 4 November 2026)
- TradeMark Africa — “Charting the Roadmap for Successful Delivery of the Fisheries Program for Women and Youth in Africa” (official programme page: launched June 2024, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, Zambia, Nigeria, 11 border crossings, 12 million employed in Africa’s fisheries; read 4 November 2026)
- WorldFish — “New Fisheries Initiative Targets 25,000 Jobs”, 14 October 2026 (US$22 billion African fish market, 25,000 jobs in Nigeria and Tanzania, July 2026–June 2028, wider 242,000-job / US$100 million programme targets)
- Africa Sustainability Matters — “Africa’s fisheries trade targets US$100 million growth and 242,000 jobs, with women’s safety in focus” (programme overview and safeguarding findings, October 2026)
Note: The images in this post are illustrations created for Fisheries India, not photographs of the programme or its participants. All dates, targets and figures above were checked against the sources listed on 4 November 2026. The 242,000 jobs and US$100 million figures are programme targets for 2028, not results achieved to date, and no application window is currently advertised.