Women Labour Force Participation in Small Scale Fisheries in Ukerewe District, Mwanza-Tanzania

Abstract

Globally, it is perceived that women are excluded from participating in certain sectors of the economy, especially in developing countries where some high paying economic activities are traditionally considered male-dominated. This has resulted in most well-paying jobs being dominated by men. This study aimed to empirically investigate women's labour force participation in small-scale fisheries in the Ukerewe District, Mwanza region, Tanzania. Specifically, the study examined the factors determining women's participation in small-scale fisheries in the area. The study was guided by the theory of labour supply as explained by the standard neoclassical microeconomic model, a widely applied theory in empirical labour supply analysis. Pioneered by economist Alfred Marshall between 1870 and 1890 in the analysis of demand and supply, the theory assumes that economic agents make informed and rational decisions based on complete certainty about prices and wages, and that individuals face their own budget constraints independent of others' actions. Hence, it is an application of consumer behaviour theory. Individuals are assumed to allocate time to market work and non-market activities (leisure). Utility is maximised by choosing a combination of goods and leisure hours subject to time, price, and income constraints. Labour force participation is one dimension of labour supply, where individuals decide not only how many hours to work but also whether to work at all. The study adopted a cross-sectional design, collecting data only once to capture a snapshot of the phenomenon at the time of data collection. The study population included all women participating in the fishery business, with a sample of 152 selected for the study. These women were drawn from three different beaches—Izinga, Bulubi, and Malelema—along Lake Victoria in Ukerewe District, areas dominated by fishing businesses. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a logit regression model were used to analyse the data. The empirical results from the logit model indicated that personal characteristics such as age, education level, and the number of children were statistically insignificant, while factors such as family income, marital status, and environmental security were statistically significant with P values of 0.000, 0.023, and 0.000 respectively. The study concludes that individual characteristics like age, education level, and family size, as well as socio-economic factors such as family income, marital status, and environmental security, play a major role in influencing women's participation in the fishing sector in the study area. The study recommends that empowering women by raising their incomes, enhancing their decision-making at the family level (especially for married women), and improving security at workplaces can increase their participation rates in the fishing sector.