158
P. Onyango and S. Jentoft
neither underemployed nor working in an unsafe environment and receiving low
pay. One’s empowerment and agency means not being forced or compelled against
will in one or more domains. The ability to go without shame implies that one
does not suffer from stigma, humiliation, isolation, indignity and discrimination.
Lastly, meaning and psychological and subjective well-being regard deprivation,
alienation, anomie and dissatisfaction.
We take this multidimensional view a step further by arguing that these variables are interrelated and are affected by a change in any of them. This relationship
and dynamism provides a rich ground for the governability lens. For instance, a
person’s physical safety and security is a prerequisite for quality employment, his
empowerment and agency, ability to go without shame and to hold a perception on
his subjective well-being. Similarly employment and quality of work will be determined by psychological and subjective well-being, the ability to feel digni fi ed and
live with physical safety and security. This is to say that any of the listed variables
will be affected and affect all the other variables at the personal as well as the
systemic level.
Thus in confronting poverty in small-scale fi sheries, its governors should not
only understand the multiple variables, but also explore how the relationship among
the variables is experienced, understood and shared between and among the governing actors and fi shers/stakeholders. This, we argue, requires an interactive governance mechanism where the poor, the government and civil society partners act
together in developing a shared understanding in confronting poverty. The governability lens fi ts the aforementioned criteria. It is therefore argued in this chapter that
an interaction mechanism that affords actors in fl uence on the decisions or activities
that are geared toward poverty alleviation is likely to promote the overall capacity
to alleviate poverty.
The Study Area
Our study was undertaken in two communities on the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria.
One community is located on the western side of the Lake (Kasheno), while the other
is on the southeastern side (Nyakasenge) (Fig. 9.1 ). Poverty is widespread, deeply
entrenched, but predominantly a rural phenomenon. It is reported that about 87% of
the poor population are located in the rural areas (RAWG 2007 ) . Based on the
Household Baseline Survey (HBS) of 2000/01, poverty is highest among households
who depend on agriculture, a statistical category that includes fi sheries.
The Lake’s fi sheries have undergone a rapid expansion of the fi sh processing
industry and seen the volume of exported processed fi sh increase signi fi cantly
(Lukunga 2005 ) . On the face of it, this is a welcome development. Fish exports earn
the country valuable foreign exchange. The processing industry offers employment
opportunities to the populous lake region and beyond, and also provides a tax base
for the government. The export market should therefore increase the price of fi sh and
eventually improve the income of the fi shers. The vast economic opportunities the
P. Onyango and S. Jentoft
neither underemployed nor working in an unsafe environment and receiving low
pay. One’s empowerment and agency means not being forced or compelled against
will in one or more domains. The ability to go without shame implies that one
does not suffer from stigma, humiliation, isolation, indignity and discrimination.
Lastly, meaning and psychological and subjective well-being regard deprivation,
alienation, anomie and dissatisfaction.
We take this multidimensional view a step further by arguing that these variables are interrelated and are affected by a change in any of them. This relationship
and dynamism provides a rich ground for the governability lens. For instance, a
person’s physical safety and security is a prerequisite for quality employment, his
empowerment and agency, ability to go without shame and to hold a perception on
his subjective well-being. Similarly employment and quality of work will be determined by psychological and subjective well-being, the ability to feel digni fi ed and
live with physical safety and security. This is to say that any of the listed variables
will be affected and affect all the other variables at the personal as well as the
systemic level.
Thus in confronting poverty in small-scale fi sheries, its governors should not
only understand the multiple variables, but also explore how the relationship among
the variables is experienced, understood and shared between and among the governing actors and fi shers/stakeholders. This, we argue, requires an interactive governance mechanism where the poor, the government and civil society partners act
together in developing a shared understanding in confronting poverty. The governability lens fi ts the aforementioned criteria. It is therefore argued in this chapter that
an interaction mechanism that affords actors in fl uence on the decisions or activities
that are geared toward poverty alleviation is likely to promote the overall capacity
to alleviate poverty.
The Study Area
Our study was undertaken in two communities on the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria.
One community is located on the western side of the Lake (Kasheno), while the other
is on the southeastern side (Nyakasenge) (Fig. 9.1 ). Poverty is widespread, deeply
entrenched, but predominantly a rural phenomenon. It is reported that about 87% of
the poor population are located in the rural areas (RAWG 2007 ) . Based on the
Household Baseline Survey (HBS) of 2000/01, poverty is highest among households
who depend on agriculture, a statistical category that includes fi sheries.
The Lake’s fi sheries have undergone a rapid expansion of the fi sh processing
industry and seen the volume of exported processed fi sh increase signi fi cantly
(Lukunga 2005 ) . On the face of it, this is a welcome development. Fish exports earn
the country valuable foreign exchange. The processing industry offers employment
opportunities to the populous lake region and beyond, and also provides a tax base
for the government. The export market should therefore increase the price of fi sh and
eventually improve the income of the fi shers. The vast economic opportunities the