Lake Tanganyika - Solution to improve fishing communities: 2014

Monday, 3 March 2014

Interviews and Observations in Local Subsistence Marketplaces

Lesson 7's lecture shows how important it is to engage in sincere conversations to make the participants feel comfortable, give them the opportunity to learn from you and also learn about the objectives of the interview. I had planned a set of questions that would help me probe some aspects of the commercial value chain in the marketplace. Following the learning from chapter 11's reading (section called 'interviews' on page 4), I opted for open-ended questions that allowed the participant to elaborate on his expertise while expressing his attitudes, feelings and how he would like things to be different. I also used more direct secondary questions to dig deeper in specific aspects of the main topic where I thought it was needed to obtain more concrete answers. However, I was extra careful not to make any comment that made the participant feel that I was judging him.

More than an interview I found that it was a quite fluid conversation. I had met the buyer/distributor on a bus trip from Mpika to Mpulungu (Northern Zambia) 3 days before, which served to break the ice. We exchanged some pleasantries. As we had one hour to take the bus back to Mpika, I offered him to go have a coffee at the bar across the road. I asked him how the purchase of capenta (dried fish from Lake Tanganyka) has been this week. He was pleased with the 50 kilos of produce bought. The conversation and questions that I asked and his open and sincere answers allowed me to understand further on his motives, challenges, strengths, vulnerabilities and his thoughts on how he could improve the way he does business.

He finds his fortnightly visit to Mpika to buy produce as time consuming, expensive and as a burden from a family standpoint. The 12 hours bus trip each way is tiring, In his own words, "I don't like leaving my wife and three kids back home for three days twice a month, it feels like I have to do it rather than I want to". So much money goes in his bus fare, overnight accommodation and the cost of transport for the produce charged by the same bus. In his own words, "imagine, passengers and capenta travelling together on the same bus" (followed by some laughter). When asked about how he felt being away from his own business and customers in Mpika, he said that it was not ideal. He doesn't have any help from anyone to look after his fish vendors in the local market. "I have to do a lot of catching-up once I'm back, including asking my customers to pay me their debts". He also made references to the cost of opportunity of the time wasted in not looking for new customers. At this point, I asked him about his thoughts on a service that delivered the fish directly to Mpika. He said that, if the price was adequate and the quality of the produce consistent, he would certainly consider it, since this would give him more control, reduce uncertainty in his own business and improve his personal and family lives.

I then said that I was sure that there were some positives in coming to Mpulungu. He agreed. He mentioned that he could ensure that the produce was of high quality. It helps him to build a closer relationship with the fish sellers directly at Mpulungu port. He can also bargain and look for the best deal. He said, in his own words, "you know, even though I have two main suppliers, I always shop around in case I find a better quality-price ratio". He finds that this activity is key for the success of his business. "I can't go back to Mpika with low quality capenta, my fish vendors know what they are buying, I need to bring them good product"

I also wanted to find out about his attitude towards the issue of depleting fish reserves and how that was affecting him. I mentioned that I had talked to a fisherman who claimed that there had been a steady decline of fish in the last decade and how that was impacting his livelihood. Based on lecture 8, for the fisherman the environmental impact was the one referred as 'immediate' with some individual control and high motivation to act. However, if the rest of the fishermen used unsustainable fishing practices (i.e. short term more production), this put him in a disadvantage position. The buyer/distributor said that he has seen price increases all the time. He buys what he finds. He does not have visibility into the fishing practices. However, he believes that the authorities should control and prevent it. If not done, it will be the end of the industry. I asked if he would buy responsibly if he had transparency on produce that had been caught following sustainable practices. He said that for the long-term benefit of the industry he would.

Conversations in Local Subsistence Marketplaces

For this part of the project, I follow with the subsistence fish marketplace in Mpulungu, located on the shores of the Lake Tanganyka, northern Zambia.

Value chain subject to interview with local actors in this subsystem marketplace - Production (Fishing and drying of the fish); Sales (includes transport to point of sales); Distribution

1. Key takeaways after conversation with producer - Local fisherman
He has been 25 years in the business. He fishes every day after sunset. He uses a medium-sized boat and gets help from 4 others from his local village. He comments on the issue of depleting fish resources, exacerbated by the appalling use of illegal nets, even mosquito nets used for malaria prevention. No fish even the smallest escapes, which negatively impacts fish reproduction cycles. He has to go to deeper water to get enough capenta. He says that uncertainty has increased, since It has become harder and harder to make enough for a decent livelihood. He believes that this creates higher financial constraints in the village. He then talks about the drying process, how women in the local village dry the capenta fish before it is ready for selling in Mpulungu.

2. Fish seller - In this case, a random fisherman's wife who carries her baby on her back
She travels by boat taxi with sacks of the dried capenta from her local village to Mpulungu's fish market every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The boat taxi departs from the local village at 4.30 am. The journey takes 3 hours, the boat is crowded with other sellers, many with their babies. She comments on the dangerous conditions and the high fare she has to pay to the boat owner.
Concerning the selling, she says there is fierce competition. It's a buyers market, most customers are small distributors of fish who come from far away towns. Bargaining is the norm. She only accepts cash transactions. She does not keep record of any transaction. All she focused on is to sell all the sacks of capenta before taking the taxi boat back to the village at 3pm. She takes the opportunity to buy some groceries and soap to bring back home, since the only local store in her village charges high prices.

3. Fish Buyer - Small distributor coming from Mpika, 12 hours south to Mpulungu
He says that it takes him 12-hours by bus and does it twice a month. There is no distribution network serving capenta to small distributors like him, that's why he has to go to where the fish is sold. He then sells to small fish street vendors in local markets in Mpika. The trip, long hours spent on the bus and the investment in time, effort and money, makes him push prices higher. He believes it is a very inefficient process. He would pay for a service that saved him from going himself. However, seeing, touching and tasting the fish before buying is key. Buying from local sellers is not always reliable. That is why he shops around before making a decision.The margin on the fish makes for a good living. She also makes some money by offering his customers credit

4. Fuel seller that supplies taxi boat operators and owners of private boats.
He and his two business partners smuggle fuel from nearby Burundi, across the Tanganyka Lake. This way they avoid paying fuel duties to the Zambian government. Good margins. Mainly cash transactions although credit is also provided to some regular taxi boat customers. He commented on small bribes payed to local police agents so that they turn a blind eye on the smuggling activity. He also made comments on family planning, he just had one son and not willing to have more as he is aware of how expensive it is to support more than one child.

As a note to the peers for evaluation, I had all these observations during my travels in Zambia last summer. I have a modest blog. One of the posts contains further details of my experience in Mpulungu, in case it may be of interest. Thanks

Observations in Local Subsistence Marketplaces

Background
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, hundreds of people, mostly the fishermen's wife's or the oldest daughters come from nearby rural fishing villages to Mpulungu port, on the shores of the Tanganyka Lake in Northern Zambia to sell their capenta, a delicacy sold as dried fish which is indigenous to the Lake. Many of them carry their babies on their backs. Men fish, women sell. This is an example of how a household organizes itself to generate income to support the family.

The marketplace
The port is crowded and full of live. There the women, after an uncomfortable 2-3 hour trip on a boat taxi, are met by avid buyers. Among them are: Owners of local fish shops, food outlets and distributors/traders from other cities nationwide. The process of drying the fish prior to its sale is key for the success of sellers. The drying process takes place in the local villages for two days after fishermen bring the caught.

Buyer-seller interaction
Negotiation starts. The buyers know very well what they are buying in terms of quality of capenta. Important elements are: size of the fish, silvery color, texture/ crunchiness and free of sand and other sea particles. They approach sellers, in some cases they take a few seconds to greet each other. I assumed that when greetings took longer was because there is an existing relationship. Tendency to go back to seller that provided good quality from previous transactions. The buyer then looks, touches and samples the dried capenta. When satisfied, the negotiation moves to the price component. There is not fixed price. Bargaining is the norm. With so many sellers at the port, the buyer is in a stronger position. Payment is made by cash as I much as I could see. The sellers seldom kept any written record of the transaction. Low literacy among fish sellers is the norm.

Buyer-seller, two sides of the same coin
The fish sellers are buyers for the street vendors of snacks, soft drinks, clothing and many other items. On day end at the port, they buy groceries and other items to bring back to their villages. Even at lunch time when they visit the food outlets that sell their staple food Nsima, beans and cooked capenta. On the other side, for instance, owners of food outlets buy capenta from the fish sellers. Small sellers of petrol that is used to fuel the boat taxis that transport fish sellers between the port and their fishing villages are buyers of the street vendors and food outlets around the port. The dynamism and pace at which transactions and interactions between buyers and sellers looked chaotic to me from the outside. It however showed me how expertly everyone at the port interacted in this subsistence marketplace.

As a note to the peers for evaluation, I made all these observations during my travels in Zambia last summer. I have a modest blog. One of the posts contains further details of my experience in Mpulungu, in case it may be of interest.

Assessing Ideas and Core Solutions in Local Communities

Summary of ideas evaluation with local communities

Interviews conducted with several members of the fishing community. There is a general consensus that current fishing practices are no sustainable in the long run. However, adopting ethical fishing practices individually does not allow them to survive in the marketplace.

I suggested the idea of a cooperative where all the members of the fishing community could organize themselves to fish, process (dry capenta for instance), market and distribute as a group. They had some reservations about the idea. One of them asked, "what happens if some fishermen in the village do not want to participate?" I made a good note of it as I did not have a good answer for it.

I asked about whether or not they would pay for education services on ethical fishing, business skills such as marketing and selling and distribution to the point of sale. The answers were vague. I think they had difficulties to see the abstract value of such education services. Some mentioned that they were already going to the marketplace three times a week to sell their produce. I then asked whether or not they would like to get paid for the fish without having to leave the village three times a week so that they could spend time with their families or even fishing more. Most of them liked that idea.

Summary of post-interview thoughts and further research

I brought these questions home, consulted with some experts and did some research. Fishermen outside of the cooperative would eventually lack the network, resources, strengths and opportunities of an increasing community encompassing the value chain. Paying for education services as standalone services may not be seen of value. However, building such services within the cooperative, identifying some members of the community to develop as future educators and/or partner with a third party organization or NGO to deliver such education services could be ideas to explore.

Considerations on revenue model

If paying for education services did not seem a good idea, I thought that some sort of cooperative membership fee could be explored.

Friday, 14 February 2014

Need, Drivers and Context Elements Assessment

Assumption:

I am assuming that other fishing sites, villages and marketplaces in Burundi, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo face the same challenges and threats. Given this, the opportunity to improve the relationship between communities and lake is the same that in the case of the Zambian fishing communities and marketplaces, on which this exercise, its analysis, community research and reflections are based.

I appreciate that in order to scale an effective solution, further research and empirical evidence will be needed to assess its feasibility in different settings.

Needs:

There is a main long-term need to safeguard and educate the communities that depend on the resources provided by the Lake Tanganyika. The beneficiaries are an estimated population of 10 million people in Zambia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. They live along the shores and proximity areas of the lake. This includes 100000 fishermen who fish from an estimated 800 fishing sites.
There is also a need to improve accessibility of fishermen to markets
A third need is to improve access to market information for fishermen, buyers, sellers and regulatory bodies.

Main drivers:

Lack of alternative resources - fishing is one of the very few resources available along the lake's shores. Depleting fish reserves are negatively correlated with the fishermen's livelihoods and the well-being of the lake communities.
Unsustainable fishing practices - not respecting reproduction cycles, use of non-regulated nets (including malaria prevention bed nets) etc are positively correlated with depleting fish reserves and fishermen's livelihoods and the communities well-being.
High competition among fishermen - in the short term, fishermen have an incentive to use unsustainable fishing practices as this presents itself as a source of competitive advantage over those who adhere to ethical practices. This has a roll-down effect on all fishermen using them in order to preserve their livelihoods. In the long run, the nature of this sort of competition is not sustainable and is a threat to the fishing activity as a whole.
Remote geographical location and fragmentation of fish supplies - Most of the fishing villages/sites analysed are remotely dispersed. Access to the physical fish markets is cumbersome and expensive, especially when fishermen operate individually or in teams of three or four.
Inefficient access to environmental, industry and market information

Larger context:

The Lake Tanganyika has shores in 4 different countries Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Uncoordinated efforts in an already very fragmented economic activity represents a big challenge.
Large-scale commercial fishing has disappeared as fish reserves have been diminishing. This is positive for smaller fishing operations, although it is a strong signal that depleting reserves must be reversed for the survival of the smaller/craft fishing operations and communities well-being
Environmental experts claim that one of the reasons fish reserves are decreasing is the raising waters temperature that affect the reproduction cycles of main of the fish species.

Additional resources