Women in the Blue Economy: Employing Networking to Drive Sustainability Reinvestment in Small-Scale Fisheries in Homa-Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

Can networking contribute to reinvestment and drive sustainability in small-scale fisheries by women? Given the increasing demand for quality livelihood, food and nutritional security, poverty alleviation, and increasing fish enterprise, stability among small-scale fishers has become an increasingly relevant question. However, given the rapidly growing number of women players in the sector in the recent past, it becomes significant that reinvestment in the industry would steer the sector towards improved sustainability as opposed to fuelling unsustainable working conditions, overexploitation, and discrimination of women fishers in the business. Drawing from social capital theory and applying a mixed method approach, a sample size of 330 small-scale women fishers comprised of fisher folks and traders was scientifically obtained and analysed. The study also involved focus group discussions and key informant interviews as sources of data and the basis of analysis. Networking does not significantly influence reinvestment in small-scale fisheries by women was the null hypothesis put to test. Findings were anchored on parametric and thematic analyses of the influence of bridging networking on sustaining reinvestment of small-scale fisheries business proceeds to stabilize the enterprise. It was established that bridging networking had a statistically significant influence on reinvestment in the sector; networking explained 16.4% (R2=.164) variability in reinvestment, the model significance was reported by F (1,328) 64.507, p<0.05, and β= .340, p<0.05 which implied that a unit increase in networking results into .340 units change in reinvestment. Therefore, defining their space in the blue growth trajectory in the Lake-Victoria region of Homa-bay County in Kenya is scientifically established. It concluded that bonding networking could enhance sustainability reinvestment in small-scale fisheries by women in the blue space growth. On this dimension, sustainability performance in the country’s blue space should consider bridging networking as a factor that brings on board all categories of stakeholders, which incorporates small-scale women fishers.