Matrimony relations and business in a fishing migrant community (periphery of Pointe-Noire, Congo-Brazzaville)
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Date
2013
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
l'Association des amis de la Revue de Géographie de Lyon
Abstract
This paper examines the entrepreneurial activities of female migrants in the informal artisanal
fishing sector along the coastal line of Congo-Brazzaville. It shows the extent to which these
women have achieved an insertion into a market niche, fish smoking, which builds on the livelihoods
of co-ethnic migrant fishermen. Women rely on tile fish supplied by male migrants including
their husbands to run their fish smoking activities. In return, they re-invest part of the proceeds in
their husbands' fishing business. This interdependency of livelihoods reflects a reconstruction of
gender-relations within the household which links matrimony to migration as an asset-accumulation
strategy. The observed patterns in enterprising amply support the view that vulnerable households
are capable of mobilising additional labour - in this case women's labour - in order to diversify
their sources of income. The paper also demonstrates how inter-spouses partnering generate cohesion
within the household and provides a mechanism for pooling income and other resources and
for sharing business risks. In this regard, the household can be perceived as safety net and migration
is indeed a strategy through which assets are accumulated in the host society. Little evidence
has however come from the paper to suggest an effective emancipation and social autonomy on
the side of the entrepreneurial woman. The relations of subordination seem to prevail, although less
intense than before.
Description
Keywords
Entrepreneurial female migration, Informal economy, Fish smoking, Coastal fishery, Intra-household relations, Pointe Noire city
Citation
Tati, G. (2013). Matrimony relations and business in a fishing migrant community (periphery of Pointe-Noire, Congo-Brazzaville). Géocarrefour, 88(2): 147-158