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The Quest for Sustainable Livelihoods : Women Fish Traders in Ibaka, Niger

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The Quest for Sustainable Livelihoods : Women Fish Traders in Ibaka, Niger THE QUEST FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS Women Fish Traders in Ibaka, Niger Delta, Nigeria Ekaete Udong Thesis committee Thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. A. Niehof Professor of Sociology of Consumers and Households, Wageningen University Thesis co-supervisor Dr. A. van Tilburg, Associate Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Wageningen University Other members Prof. Dr. Ir. A.P.J. Mol Wageningen University Prof. Dr. I.P. van Staveren International Institute of Social Studies (ISSS), Erasmus University, The Hague Dr. C.H.M. Lutz Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Dr. S.R. Bush Wageningen University This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School of Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS). THE QUEST FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS Women Fish Traders in Ibaka, Niger Delta, Nigeria Ekaete Udong Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. dr. M.J. Kropff in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on Thursday 19 May 2011 at 11 a.m. in the Aula Ekaete Udong The Quest for Sustainable Livelihoods: Women Fish Traders in Ibaka, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2011) With references, with summaries in Dutch and English ISBN 978-90-8585-934-5 Dedication To my father who had unshakeable faith in what I could achieve; to Inyene, and to the women all over the world who have overcome. i ii Acknowledgement I am highly indebted to several individuals and organisations whose support made the beginning and completion of this PhD Thesis possible. This PhD was funded by the Netherlands government through the African Women in Agriculture and the Environment (AWLAE) Programme of Winrock International, for which I am very grateful. I am also grateful to the staff of the Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) for keeping our programmes running throughout the period. Special thanks go to Nse Inyang, Emem Imoh, Aniebiet Okpo, and Elisabeth Okon. I am also highly indebted to friends and colleagues who I served with at the Akwa Ibom State Industrial and Investment Promotion Council (AKIIPOC), especially the Chairman, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, and Dr Okon Ansa, who advised me to accept the fellowship when I was having second thoughts, and most especially Obong Victor Attah, the then governor of Akwa Ibom State who was very supportive. I am also indebted to Prof. Obinna Chukwu who helped in a lot of ways in facilitating my admission and departure for Wageningen. My profound gratitude goes to the management and support staff of the AWLAE Scholars PhD programme who were key to the success of my PhD work: They are Anke Niehof, Lisa Price, Antine Hardon, the late Julia Gitobu, Margaret Lubale, Norah Muthike, Riet van de Westeringh, and Hedy Munro. To Anke and Lisa, I extend my sincere gratitude for thinking of developing African women, and formulating a project which has benefitted all twenty of us so much. To Julia, I know you will be smiling, wherever you are. Special thanks to Anke, the Amazon, for your friendship, wisdom, patience, perseverance and commitment to ensuring the successful implementation of the programme. The assistance and warmth of the other staff of the Sociology of Consumers and Households Group is also gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks go to Hedy Munro, who worked with such proficiency and was always ready to help, Dinie Verbeek and Carry Vleeming who were very helpful and nice, and Margaret van Wissen for her excellent job of formatting the manuscript and getting it ready for submission. To my friends and fellow travelers on the very interesting AWLAE PhD journey, I will always remember the nice experiences we shared. The sisterhood we shared with the ladies of the second and last cohorts, Aifa Ndoye, Namizata Binate Fofana, Stephanie Duku, Fatima Dia Sow, Rose Fagbemissi, Regina Nchang, and Mariame Maiga was simply infectious. To the other AWLAE scholars, Faith Nguthi, Lydia Ndirangu, Caroline Nombo, Corrie du Preez, Suzana Akrofi, Gaynor Paradza, Doris Kakuru, Hirut Bekele, Kidist Gebreselassie, Monica Karuhanga, and Joyce Challe, thanks for the friendship and comradeship. I also thank my other colleagues at Wageningen University, Marian Koster, Juanwen Yuan, Nahid Amin, Jean- Claude Bidogeza, Mohammad Balali, Guirguissou Alidou, Eirik Stijfhoorn, Hom Gartaula, Melissa Navarra, Naomi Sakana, Aisha Abdulkareem, Margaret Msonganzilla and Judith Tukahirwa, and Serena Nasongo of Universiteit van Amsterdam, for their great friendship and encouragement. The WUR Nigerian students group was simply a Godsend in my last year in Wageningen. They provided laughter, the best medicine for the frustrations of Wageningen, and assorted Nigerian food on order. I thank Roger Obubo of the CTA for his moral support, Bella Scholte ter Horst and Doris Verschuur, Busi and Ferai Maphosa and my other friends at the Amazing Grace Parish for their spiritual and moral support. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who assisted me in the research process. I owe my success in the data collection process in Ibaka to the tireless efforts of Atim iii Okoko and Hannah Etifit. Hannah also took time off her lucrative fish trade to assist me whenever we needed her assistance with the chiefs, elders, market management and fish trade groups in Ibaka, and together with Edet Uno and Okon Antai, took me round and introduced to the community leaders, the respondents and the security operatives, making our stay in Ibaka much easier. I would like to also thank the respondents, especially the respondents in the case studies, for their time and willingness to share their experiences with me. To the field workers, Inyang Esang, Ini Ofonso, Esther Etifit, Joy Henshaw and Samuel Inyang, I say thank you very much. I also thank Emem Inyang for the data management and processing and I am most grateful to Nurudeen Alimi for technical assistance with the statistical analysis. To my relations and friends who helped me take care of my daughter I owe my sincere gratitude. My special thanks go to Idara and Iberedem Usoro and their children Ediomo and Ekikere, who adopted her as their very own while I was away in Wageningen. I am highly indebted to my academic supervisor (promoter) Professor Anke Niehof for her professional advice, encouragement, technical guidance, tireless reviews of the numerous sometimes non-inspirational drafts. I thank you for your understanding and support. Your stimulating discussions helped me at all times to stay focused and accomplish the task. The mature manner in which you handled all the problems I had during my programme in Wageningen deserves commendation. I also commend Roy Jordaan for his hospitality all those times we were invited for some fresh air at Renkum. You took us as members of your extended family. To my co-promoter, Aad van Tilburg, I am very grateful for the detailed reviews, constructive criticisms and extensive comments you made to enrich the ideas presented in this book. I thank you and Anke for giving me the impetus to continue when I was sometimes tired. To the organisers of the 2nd Sustainable Development Diplomacy (SDD) Course and the 17th International Programme for the Management of Sustainability (IPMS), I thank you very much for such insightful ideas about sustainability. The courses were so stimulating and challenging and gave me new insights into sustainable livelihoods. They also gave a very befitting and exciting end to my stay in Wageningen. To all the participants, especially the “Niger Delta Project” group of the IPMS Course, your contributions and support were very impressive. I thank you very much. Lastly, to Inyene, who endured all the hardships during the period of this programme, I can only say thank you, and thanks be to God that He gave us victory. iv Table of Contents Dedication ................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ x List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Motivation for the study ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The AWLAE programme context and its significance for Nigeria ............................... 3 1.3 Elaboration of the research problem .............................................................................. 4 1.4 Scientific significance of the study ................................................................................ 7 1.5 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................
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