Fish processing in Ghana

Declining fish stocks due to overfishing, destructive fishing methods, 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 is a way for fishers to secure their livelihoodshttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/273335884_A_Review_of_Fisheries-Related_Human_Migration_in_the_Gulf_of_Guinea. But the harsh urban condition in cities such as Accra is threatening these migratory patterns. Over 2 million people in Ghana rely on the fisheries sector for their livelihoods.https://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/GHA/en#CountrySector-ProductionSector Around 500,000 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 Fisheries, climate change, and overfishing in Ghana: 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 is 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. A large number of women had migrated from the 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, 2006Atti-Mama, C. (2006). Les migrations des pêcheurs au Bénin. Rapport de consultation. PMEDP/PP2: 56p.). Migrant fishers play a critical role in local production systems. Yet, in Accra, these fish processors who provide Ghanaians with important animal protein sources (around 60% in the average Ghanaian diet) sleep in the open at night without roofs over their heads — hiding behind plastic sheets during rainfall events. That is how they live from 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 fishing community. Proximity to fish landing sites and urban markets are 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.https://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/GHA/en#CountrySector-ProductionSector The fisheries sector accounts for 4.5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product.ibid 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? Fish smoking with traditional kiln in Ghana: 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 © 2020 Muntaka Chasant Vulnerabilities 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.https://www.fao.org/3/a-i4884e.pdf 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 fatshttps://www.fao.org/3/ca4896en/ca4896en.pdf dripping into the fire also produce PAHs. The traditional methods of smoking fish in Ghana results in high levels of PAHs in foodhttps://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/pah/docs/pah.pdf, which researchers fear may be compromising public healthhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0889157512000786. 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 According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), smoked fish prepared using firewood in Ghana exposes consumers to cancer riskshttps://www.fao.org/3/ca4896en/ca4896en.pdf. PAHshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110062114200237#:~:textEvidence%20indicates%20that%20mixtures%20of%20PAHs%20are%20carcinogenic%20to%20humans.&textThe%20EPA%20has%20classified%20the,probable%20human%20carcinogens%20%5B67%5D. are carcinogenic to humans, and are known to contaminate traditionally-smoked fish in Ghanahttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956713513003289?via%3Dihub. PAHs exposure occurs through skin contact, inhalation, and food routes. Ghana's fish processors breathe in smoke from the fire and eat their own fish. Their skin also naturally comes in contact with the smoke. Smoked Sardinella fish. Accra, Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant According to a statement from the International Association of Fish Inspectors on the safety of smoked fishery productshttps://www.iafi.net/resources/Documents/IAFI%20Statement%20on%20PAH%20FinalEN.PDF, 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. 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.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19891791/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24013021/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412013001633 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 risks associated with PAHs exposure in many Ghanaian communities. 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 techniquehttps://www.fao.org/3/a-i4174e.pdf 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 2021. 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 process silver-coated 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 2015https://statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/Demography/LFS%20REPORT_fianl_21-3-17.pdf 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 Copyright notice: All photos on this page and on Muntaka.com are copyrighted. Do not copy or reuse without my permission. Leave your comment below to join the conversation. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

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Fish processing in Ghana