Developing the market, developing the fishery? Post-harvest associations in the making of the fish market in Ghana

Abstract

Market-led development initiatives are increasingly proposed in development and governance discourse as a means of improving the sustainable governance of fisheries. Market-led initiatives are understood as incentivising, but not explicitly directing behaviour change in small-scale fisheries, through the promise of access to higher value-added markets. This paper explores how the creation of fish quality and hygiene standards in the Ghanaian post-harvest fisheries sector is proposed as a means of improving the sustainable governance of fisheries. It does so through focusing on the role of Ghanaian post-harvest associations and their relationship to the governance of fish quality and hygiene standards. Ghanaian post-harvest associations are key to the implementation and governance of market-led value addition policies. Drawing from empirical data, as well as critical marketization literature, it argues that the emphasis by development agencies on selling fish to higher value-added, elite markets, can risk furthering inequality, as well as compromising the nutritional importance of low-cost and accessible small pelagic fish for lower-income Ghanaian fish consumers. The focus on value addition in the Ghanaian post-harvest sector, which is portrayed as a livelihood strategy to mitigate revenue loss due to low levels of artisanal fish landings, needs to be questioned. Policies and initiatives which promote value-addition deserve more critical scrutiny in the development of fisheries governance policy in Ghana.