Fish for Life: Empowerment and Sustainability

Dr. Sean Irwin and his team are working to empower Bolivian women through sustainable small-scale pond aquaculture.

Women and Indigenous people continue to struggle for equality and livelihood opportunities in Bolivia, despite substantial progress in recent years. Many are poor, food insecure, and socially marginalized. This two million dollar project, our third multi-million dollar project in the country, continues the development of the small-scale pond culture of native fish species as a gender transformative pathway. A relatively new development in Bolivia, we have found that this aquaculture and its value chain is particularly adaptable to female leadership. It has built entrepreneurial skills, self-esteem, employability, improved income and societal position, as well as contributing to nutrition and food security (Irwin et al, 2020). Recent analysis by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has found this work has driven a drastic rise in Bolivian aquaculture production, which has doubled per-capita fish consumption and led the country to have one of the fastest rates of aquaculture growth in the world.

With participatory evaluation, training on key bottlenecks with the help of Brazilian partners, and peer-peer exchanges with other Bolivian municipalities that have started with aquaculture, we plan to improve aquaculture in 10 municipalities, reaching an estimated 5,000 beneficiaries and an estimated further 15,000 indirect beneficiaries. The research that has emerged from this work is contributing to re defining best practices for rural aquaculture development – the fastest growing food system on the planet – and yielding important knowledge regarding inclusive and sustainable poverty reduction, food security, and women’s empowerment.