After the success of the pilot project “Fisherwomen Ouakam,” a new group of fifty women from Yoff, Senegal is joining together in an economic interest group to allow them to professionalize the sale of fish and to build micro-businesses. Pooled financial resources and working capital form the basis which allows the fish sellers to regularly access micro-credits that will enable them to continue expanding their businesses and increase their earnings.

This project will allow the fish sellers to obtain new refrigerators, ice, and proper storage containers for their fish. As a first step, the micro-credits will provide better business conditions and enable the women to buy larger quantities of fish. This, in turn, will generate more income. An added benefit will be that the women can create savings for future procurements and expenditures..

In 2017, we provided micro-business training to the female fish sellers.

Now the women will receive refrigerated storage containers to keep their fish fresh longer and to allow them to professionalize their activities in a sustainable way.  This will enable the women to buy larger fish such as “thiofs” and to increase the size of the market to include a larger portion of the town.

Only mothers and parents that earn an acceptable income are able to send their children to school, obtain access to health care, and lead a self-determined life.

Women at the Fish Market

Background:
The female fish sellers sit at the beach and wait for the boats to return with their catches.  The women have agreements with the fisherman that allows them to sell a small portion of the daily catches.   Previously, the women did not have the financial security to purchase a large number of fish and did not have the infrastructure to cool or store the purchased fish.  They had no ice or refrigerators and would therefore immediately go on foot to the neighborhoods nearby and quickly sell their fish before it fouled. Due to the extreme heat, the women had less than one hour to sell their fish before it went bad.  The women returned to the beach time and time again and any money they earned they immediately used to buy more fish in the hopes that at the end of the evening they would have earned enough money to bring two fish and some rice home to feed their children.

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Donation Details:

YOU Foundation – Education for Children in Need

Commerzbank Düsseldorf
IBAN: DE 72 300 400 00 0 34 80 100 00
BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Transfer Notation: Fischverkäuferinnen