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Kenyan women defy fishing taboos as climate change threatens Lake ...
Kagwel, Kenya — Rhoda Ongoche Akech still remembers the whispers that followed her to the water’s edge in 2002. At 39 years old, the mother of seven was about to break one of Lake Victoria’s oldest taboos: a woman stepping into a fishing boat.“People were alleging that when women go into the waters accompanied by men, they would engage in sexual intercourse,” the now 61-year-old said. But after they realised she was going there just to learn, and would not stop because of the stigma, “they kept quiet”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Drought in the east, floods in the south: Africa battered by climate changelist 2 of 3Are African ‘water wars’ on the horizon as AU puts the issue on its agenda?list 3 of 3‘How do I survive?’ Drought plagues Kenya’s Turkana amid surplus elsewhereend of listPrior to that, things were very different in Akech’s community in Kagwel, a lakeside village in Kisumu County’s Seme subcounty.For decades, she had worked as a fishmonger in the village where fishing – only done by men – had sustained families for generations. But her income was dwindling. The cost of buying fish from male fishermen, combined with expenses for firewood, frying oil, and bus fare to markets, was becoming unsustainable.Then in 2001, some women from neighbouring Homabay County arrived in Kagwel and did something unthinkable: they went fishing. Akech watched them and was inspired.“I sought the help of two young men by then to assist me with fishing as I learned,” she said. Despite warnings from community members who insisted women had no place on the water, she persisted. Her family depended on it.The cultural prohibition against women fishing in Lake Victoria communities stems from beliefs deeply woven into the social fabric of fishing villages. According to William Okedo, a 57-year-old Kagwel village elder, the traditions were particularly strict regarding menstruation.“It was believed that if women went into the lake while on period, they would scare away the fish and that would cause losses to people who are fishing,” Okedo explained.The discrimination extended even to male fishermen, who were forbidden from engaging in sexual relations with their wives the night before fishing expeditions, lest it diminish their catch.Rhoda Ongoche Akech, 61, holds one of the fish varieties found in Lake Victoria at Kagwel Beach, Kisumu, Kenya [Daniel Kipchumba/Al Jazeera]A team of womenAlthough Akech’s bold move in 2002 broke through the taboos, it was more tha...
Kenyan women defy fishing taboos as climate change threatens Lake ...
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Climate impact of bottom fishing depends on where and how the seabed is ...
The overall climate impact of bottom fishing is the result of these processes and depends strongly on where fishing takes place and on whether carbon is released that would otherwise have remained ...
Classrooms, mines and maternity wards: The women using AI to ... - Nation
Today, Norah, 22, is among the women in Kenya with a degree in Informatics and Computer Science from Strathmore University. Her achievement stands out in a field where women remain under-represented, with the latest publicly available government data from 2022 showing that women accounted for 30.1 per cent of ICT graduates, compared to 69.9 per cent of men.
