Climate Change

Declining fish stocks due to overfishing and climate-related shocks are shaping patterns of migration and framing livelihoods and mobility along the coastlines of Accra, Ghana’s capital city. Migrating in the direction in which fish stocks are moving has always been a way for fishers to secure their livelihoods, but the harsh urban condition in cities such as Accra is threatening these migratory patterns. Over 2 million people in Ghana, more than the population of Accra, depend on the fisheries sector for their livelihoods. Around 500,000 of these are engaged in processing and distribution, with a large number of them having to migrate to other parts of Ghana due to declining fish catch in their native towns and villages. Rooflessness Among Accra Jamestown Fante Fish Processors Cecilia, 27 years old, is a Fante fish processor who had migrated to Accra to continue her vocation due to declining fish catch at Anomabo, her hometown. She uses traditional kilns to smoke fish, which she sells at the Agbogbloshie market. Roofless, she sleeps out in the open at night. Thousands of young people migrate to Accra every year in search of economic opportunities, but the harsh living conditions in Accra make their situations even worse. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant Cecilia Ntifful, 27 years old, is a fish smoker at Jamestown in Accra. She had migrated to Accra due to a fall in fish catch around her hometown Anomabo, a town roughly 50 km east of Cape Coast, the capital of the Central Region of Ghana. Quite a large number of women have migrated from Central Region to the Jamestown area in response to the movements of fish. Traditional fish smoking methods and exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): Fish processor in Accra, Ghana, contemplates as she looks at her chorkor oven-smoked Amane. Using metal drum kilns and chorkor oven to smoke fish exposes fish processors and consumers to PAHs, known carcinogens linked to several cancers. The FAO fears this may be compromising public health. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant Fishers regularly migrate internally to follow fish stocks or take advantage of fish prices (Atti Mama, 2006). Migrant fishers play a critical role in local production systems. Yet, in Accra, these women who provide Ghanaians with an important animal protein source(around 60% in the average Ghanaian diet), sleep in the open at night without roofs over their heads, hiding behind plastic sheets during rainfalls. Fish processing in Ghana: Migrant Fante fishers use chorkor even to smoke Amane and other fish species in Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant And that is how they live year to year, moving between Jamestown and Agbogbloshie market and Makola, feeding the city’s poor and wealthy, and sleeping by the Gulf of Guinea out under the stars at night. Fish processing: Fante fisher migrants use chorkor oven to process fish at Jamestown, Accra, Ghana. Traditional kilns such as the chorkor smoker expose fish smokers and consumers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, compounds found in the wood smoke that are known to be carcinogenic to humans. Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant "It's demeaning to us to sleep in the open, not to mention the risks we face outside at night," Cecilia responded when I asked about their accommodation situation. Her eyes welled up with tears and added: "I only know how to smoke fish. I wish there's something else for me, and I wouldn't have to be in this situation." The entire area was razed down in late May 2020 to make way for a fishing habour, further worsening their situation. The wooden shacks around the Jamestown lighthouse couldn't accommodate the fish smokers from Central Region because they were already occupied by the native fisherfolk. Fish processing in Ghana: Two young Ghanaian women use chorkor oven to smoke fish in Accra, Ghana. Chorkor oven exposes fish smokers to hazardous substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, respirable particulate matter, and carbon monoxide. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant Proximity to fish landing sites and urban markets is critical for their livelihoods. Jamestown, for instance, is within a short walking distance to large markets such as Agbogbloshie and Makola. Ghana is a heavy fish-consuming nation, with an estimated annual consumption requirement of around 720,000 metric tonnes. The fisheries sector accounts for 4.5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product. The women on this page contribute significantly to this. But the role they play in Ghana's food production systems is underestimated and unappreciated. And roofs over their heads remain a distant dream. Why Do They Migrate? Fante migrant fish processors use chorkor oven to smoke fish in Accra, Ghana. More than 2.5 million Ghanaians depend on the fisheries sector for their livelihoods, according to the FAO. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant Climate-sensitive livelihoods are forcing indigenous people to migrate to cities to participate in the urban economy. The changing environment — declining harvests and fish stocks — put their source of income at risk. With limited livelihood options, they move to cities to seek fisheries-related opportunities in expanding urban markets. But urban areas in many developing cities are unplanned and clogged, which force internal migrants into informal settlements that are often hotspots of hazard exposure. Forced to migrate due to climate variability and human activities, they settle on the fringes of cities, in slums and squatters, from where they stage their centuries-old vocation that feeds thousands of people across the demographic spectrum. But they face serious health risks. What Health Risks Do Fish Smokers in Ghana Face? PAHs exposure: Fish processor uses traditional metal drum kiln to smoke fish in Accra, Ghana. This exposed her to several air toxicants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to be carcinogenic to humans. Around 500,000 people are engaged in the processing and marketing of fish in Ghana, the FAO figures show. Copyright © March 2020 Muntaka Chasant Smoking tuna fish in Jamestown, Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant Vulnerability in informal settlement communities and occupational hazards posed to the urban poor in their working environment has received very little media attention in Ghana. Informal fish smoking in Ghana is a socially constructed gendered livelihood, with women facing the highest risk. Generally (the fisheries sector), the men go out to sea as fishermen, while the women remain on the coast to receive the catch, prepare, smoke, and market the fish. Women also fish and finance fishery operations. Smoked fish is a critical animal protein source in Ghana, especially for urban households under the pressures of food insecurity. Metal drum kilns for fish smoking in Ghana: Fish smoker stands in the middle of traditional metal drum kilns she is using to smoke fish in Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant But the method of smoking fish (e.g. using metal drum kiln) in Ghana exposes both the fish smokers and consumers to dangerous levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), harmful compounds found mainly in the wood smoke. Fish fats dripping into the fire also produce PAHs. The traditional methods of smoking fish in Ghana results in high levels of PAHs in food, which researchers fear may be compromising public health. Chorkor oven-smoked Amane fish. Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), smoked fish prepared using firewood in Ghana exposes consumers to cancer risks. PAHs are carcinogenic to humans, and are known to contaminate traditionally-smoked fish in Ghana. PAHs exposure occurs through skin contact, inhalation, and food routes. These poor women are exposed to all, as they breathe in smoke from the fire and eat their own fish. Their skin also naturally comes in contact with the smoke. Smoked herring fish. Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant According to a statement from the International Association of Fish Inspectors on the safety of smoked fishery products, consumers of smoked fish in West Africa are on average (from fish only) exposed to a key marker in PAH called benzopyrene — 32 nanograms/kilogram (ng/kg) body weight per day compared to the European Union (EU) average of 3-4 ng/kg body weight/day. As a result, many countries within the EU regularly reject smoked fish from Africa due to the high levels of PAHs in them. Chorkor oven: Two women smoke fish using the chorkor smoker in Accra, Ghana. The chorkor oven is known to expose fish smokers and consumers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carcinogens linked to skin, lung, and stomach cancers. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant In other words, fish smoked this way is not considered a safe food. Studies have linked exposure to PAHs to ocular conditions, lung cancer risks, and other diseases. The continued use of traditional kilns to process the most important animal protein in Ghana presents adverse impacts on food safety, nutrition, public health, livelihoods and economic development in the country. The fao According to FAO estimates, over 70% of fish landings in Ghana are processed using chorkor smoker or the metal drum kiln, adding that, "the continued use of traditional kilns to process the most important animal protein in Ghana presents adverse impacts on food safety, nutrition, public health, livelihoods and economic development in the country." Despite consistent research findings, there appears to be very little public education on the health impacts of PAHs in Ghana. For the thousands of women engaged in fish smoking in Ghana, economic uncertainty trumps all health and environmental risks. They cannot avoid the everyday hazards as it has become an intrinsic part of their livelihood and survival strategy. There's a glimmer of hope, however. The FAO-Thiaroye processing technique is helping to minimize this exposure. But do the fish smokers make enough to be able to have one of those made for them? Fishing in Ghana The mobile phone photographs below, from 2014 and 2015, pretty much capture fisheries-related activities around the Jamestown fish landing area. Fish selling in Ghana: An elderly woman sells fresh fish at the Jamestown fish landing site in Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant Fish catch in Ghana: Fishermen in Ghana unload what appeared to be a Guitarfish at the Jamestown fish landing site. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant The scene below broke my heart in 2015 and still breaks my heart now in 2020. Fisherman drags a sea turtle across a fish landing site strewn with plastic bags in Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant Fishing canoes arrive at the Jamestown fish landing site in Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant A man who helps fishermen unload their anchovies takes his share and put them in his shirt. Jamestown, Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant A Ghanaian fish processor smile for the camera. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant Fish processors in Ghana use beach sand to remove a silvery coat on the body a fish species. Copyright © 2015 Muntaka Chasant Canoe building: Men build a fishing canoe at the Jamestown fish landing site in Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2014 Muntaka Chasant Urban Poverty: Looking To The Future Around 90% of Ghana’s employed population 15 years and older in 2015 were in the informal sector, with women making up nearly 55%. Men and women in the informal sector do so much for Ghana’s economy, yet receive very little reward. Unless equitable pathways are developed to ensure sustainable development across all areas, the rapidly expanding urban environment will continue to attract young people from the hinterlands. In cities, they would be forced into informal works, where there are minimal protective precautions against exposure to occupational hazards. With respect to urban poverty responses, interventions to improve livelihoods at community or households levels are always not effective because public sector agencies frequently assume that informal settlements are the only places the urban poor lives. But poor people live everywhere in Accra, for instance. Interventions in poorer countries either improve livelihood opportunities or exacerbate vulnerabilities. Poor people are usually viewed as passive. At the receiving end of economic assistance, they frequently have no say or control over how the help they receive is managed. They only have to 'shut up' and extend their hands. Area-based interventions have failed to improve the lives of the urban poor, especially those who do not live in informal settlements. Instead, city-wide actions would allow resources to reach a greater number of people in distress who would otherwise be excluded. RELATED: Urban Poverty Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Take Action Now Do me a favour. June 12, 2020, is the World Day Against Child Labour. Would you read the story of the 8-year-old urban poor boy below, and if you are outraged as I'm, contact the Government of Ghana to take action on this? This situation is too much for me to tackle alone. What will you tell the child labourer 'Akufo-Addo' a decade from now if you shrug this off? That you were too indifferent to care? The Government of Ghana is likely to take action if more people reach out. Directly contacting the President is a good start. Visit his website here. See 'Akufo-Addo' shivering and working in the rain another time here: RELATED: A Child Labour Scene See more photographs of child labour here: RELATED: Child Labour in Photos: Electronic Waste Leave your comment below to join the conversation. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

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