One of the many beneficiaries drying fish in Grand Bassa County/ image by Akoi M. Baysah
-Beneficiaries Praised Initiative
By Akoi M. Baysah & Mark N. Mengonfia
The World Bank Alternative livelihood program for women in fisheries is making a bigger impact, according to beneficiaries.
A member of the Big Fanti Town Fishing and Processing Center in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Elizabeth Bonwin, said the initiative has made some changes in her life and the life of other women who are benefiting from it.
The World Bank Liberia and the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) provided her organization with a sum of US$5,000 grant, the money that is changing the gains.
The US$5,000 is part of the World Bank’s $2 million grant management agreement to enhance women’s participation in the fisheries sector under the World Bank-financed Liberia Sustainable Management Fisheries Project (LSMFP).
Madam Bonwin in an interview said the grant is helping to improve the livelihoods of women of the Big Fanti Town Fishing and Processing Center organization and reduce their dependence on loans from banks and other financial institutions.
“The grant is improving the lives of women and helping to do away with the struggle our women undergo with loans and banking institutions,” Bonwin stated.
She disclosed that the organization received the grant in three installments, with US$2,000 provided in the first phase, another US$2,000 in the second phase, and US$1,000 in the final phase.
According to her, the beneficiaries were trained on how to properly manage and sustain their businesses before receiving the funds.
“We were happy after we were accepted for the grant, especially because we are not paying back,” Bonwin said.
She explained that the organization has more than 100 women and members meet twice a month, pay dues, and participate in a revolving loan scheme established with the grant.
“After we received the money, we gave it out to members with a 10 percent interest,” she said, adding that the arrangement allows other members to benefit from the funds as loans are repaid.
Giving a detailed account of how members benefit, Madam Bonwin divided their members into groups of five to facilitate the loan scheme, with more than L$800,000 disbursed to members to support various businesses, also stating that the grant has helped strengthen the organization and improve the lives of its members.
Madam Bonwin indicated that the Big Fanti Town Fishing and Processing Center was fortunate to qualify for the large grant following an application and a thorough vetting process.
Accordingly, the grant program has two categories: small grants of US$2,000 and large grants of US$5,000, targeting women and women-led organizations engaged in fisheries.
The funding is intended to provide women with alternative sources of livelihood, particularly during periods when fishing activities become difficult.
Madam Bonwin has expressed optimism that the initiative would enable the women to become financially independent and self-reliant in the coming years.
“In the next five years, we hope to see ourselves as independent and self-reliant,” she said.
Not only Bonwin and the Big Fanti Town Fishing and Processing Center are benefiting from the initiative but also Glory Be to Yaweh Service Centre” in Robertsport is one of the institutions among many that are benefiting from the project.
Kumba Boakai-Kulu, a recipient in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County, who urged the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority and the World Bank to keep investing in Liberian women, noted that the initiative is building the capacity of her fellow women to do bigger things.
The 48-year-old woman who now runs three 15-horsepower engines and two paddle-powered canoes began selling fish at ten, alongside her mother, and kept at it after her father died and her mother could no longer afford to pay for school. Fish sales carried her from fifth grade through high school, where she graduated around 2001.
As CEO of the “Glory Be to Yaweh Service Centre” in Robertsport, she applied for the women empowerment grant through her business. Her business (Glory Be to Yaweh Service Centre) was selected for the grant. This happened at a critical moment when one of her engines had broken down completely. According to her, she added US$950 of her own money to her first installment and bought a replacement.
She used the next portion of the grant to stock fuel, a persistent challenge in Robertsport, so fishermen are not stranded on shore. They buy from her and repay after their catch, sometimes in exchange for fish.
Kumba says the grant helped her clear the debts her business had accumulated. Ten to twelve people now work with her, and none pay rent for the structures she built. Her expenses have fallen, and she is planning a modern freezing and drying facility.
“The grant gave us a push,” she says. “We expected more, but we know that where there is life, there is hope.”
Also Musu T. Musah, a mother of five who is a beneficiary of the grant explained that she first heard about the grant from her daughter. She took advantage, applied, and was successful. She received US$5,000 in three installments.
Musah, through the grant initiative, supplies fishermen with fuel in large quantities, and they repay her in fish. Before the grant, she could buy about two drums of fuel at a time. Now she buys 500 gallons or more.
The impact of the grant has become visible in her home and the community. She has finished her kitchen and fish drying area, moved her children into private primary school, and supported laborers who work with her.
With no bank nearby, Musu joined a savings club and puts in L$10,000 every Sunday, and she hasn’t missed a week since the money came.
She says, “It is improving our lives,” In five years, she hopes to import fuel and own her own fishing boat.
With these commendations and success stories seen by these beneficiaries, it shows the necessity for the continuation of empowering women in the fisheries.
