West Africa's fisher women are experts at coping with job insecurity – but policymakers are using their resilience against them

A large number of West African women rely on the blue economy to survive MaaikeZaal/GettyImages

All along West Africa’s coastline, women play a vital role in the fisheries sector as processors, traders and distributors.

But they face many challenges – like job insecurity, a lack of finance, availability of fish and child care – and they’re also vulnerable to shocks, like the COVID pandemic.