Breaking the cycle of gender-based violence in Zambia’s fishing communities Women’s empowerment key to FISH4ACP’s efforts to tackle its root causes
Gender-based violence is a widespread and structural feature of fishing communities on Zambia’s Lake Tanganyika, one rooted in poverty, gender inequality and declining fish catches, according to a new report by FAO’s global value chain development initiative FISH4ACP. The initiative is working to tackle the root causes of a cycle that is claiming the health, livelihoods and future of women and girls.
“This report confirms what our communities have been living with for years,” said Evans Mutanuka, Director of Fisheries at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. “Addressing gender-based violence is not separate from the work of building stronger, more sustainable fisheries. It is part of the same effort to which the government is committed.”
The report is based on a study conducted between March and June 2024 in four Zambian fishing villages, drawing on interviews and focus group discussions with 75 men, women and youth involved in kapenta fisheries, health workers and representatives of fisheries authorities. Kapenta, the sprat and sardine species caught in Lake Tanganyika, provides nearly half the jobs in Zambia’s fishing industry and is a critical source of affordable protein for millions of people. Women make up most fish processors and traders yet earn an average of just USD 200 a year.
FAO 2026
“Gender-based violence is driven by poverty, unequal gender norms, a fishery under pressure and lack of alternatives,” said Arthur Moonga, Director of the Zambia Institute of Research and Development and lead author of the report. “Understanding why these practices exist is an essential step towards eliminating them.”
Respondents indicate that fish-for-sex exchanges, known locally as pela ukupela, is a prominent form of gender-based violence in fishing communities around Lake Tanganyika. It emerged in the early 1990s following market liberalization, which brought women into the fish trade at the very moment catches were beginning to decline. As competition intensified, fishers were able to demand sexual favors in return for guaranteed fish supplies. Women engaged in these transactions have little or no power to protect themselves, exposing them to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The poverty driving these dynamics also pushes vulnerable households to arrange for underage daughters to marry older fishers in exchange for money — girls who rarely continue their education and many of whom become pregnant as minors.
The long-term health of the value chain
The report was commissioned by FISH4ACP, an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) implemented by FAO with funding from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Its findings feed directly into FISH4ACP’s work in Zambia’s kapenta fisheries, which places women’s empowerment at the centre of its response to gender-based violence.
“You cannot separate women’s safety and dignity from the long-term health of the value chain that depends on their labor,” said Masiliso Phiri, FISH4ACP’s National Professional Officer in Zambia. “A sustainable fishery has to be socially sustainable too.”
Using forum theatre, an interactive method in which community members perform and respond to dramatized scenarios, FISH4ACP brings fish-for-sex and child marriage into the open, stimulating discussion on the social norms driving these harmful practices. The insights gained from these performances inform community action plans, developed with village elders and traditional leaders, setting out concrete steps to address structural drivers of gender-based violence.
FISH4ACP is also supporting Zambia's fishing communities through Dimitra Clubs, focusing on community empowerment, gender equality, and rural development based on an approach developed by FAO. In total, 43 of these voluntary groups have been established, in which women, men, and youth come together to take collective action to improve their communities.
At the same time, FISH4ACP is working to empower women economically. Processors receive support to improve fish handling practices and adopt raised drying racks to reduce post-harvest losses and improve the quality of their kapenta – and raise their revenues. Moreover, three solar-powered cold storage facilities were installed, where fish can be frozen immediately after landing, further reducing losses and increasing income. The solar installations also provide electricity to over 2 000 households while 700 fishers are able to access the cold chain, paying a small storage fee to the women’s groups.
FAO 2026
A marketing strategy is helping women access better markets for their fish, while FISH4ACP also offers training and resources to open up alternative livelihood options in horticulture and rice farming to reduce dependence on fishing. Savings groups, supported by the project, are building women’s financial literacy to boost their access to financial services and gain more economic independence. “FISH4ACP’s efforts in Zambia are a clear example of our support to building fisheries value chains that are productive, sustainable and inclusive,” said Lana Zutelija, Team Leader at the EU Delegation to Zambia. “Sustainable fisheries development must go hand in hand with gender equality.”