To ensure Ghana’s policy frameworks keep pace and support the sector’s evolution, Global Fisheries and Resilience Action (GFRA) is collaborating with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MoFA) to update the Ministry’s Gender Mainstreaming Strategy to fully embed gender-responsive governance into Ghana’s national blue economy. In meeting at GFRA offices on 9 July 2026, GFRA met with the representatives of MoFA to review the current Strategy. Both MoFA and GFRA have previously discussed how to capitalize on the opportunity presented by current shifts in legislative and policy directions to move beyond traditional approaches to ensure gender equanimity. GFRA is providing the necessary technical and financial support to the Ministry to bridge the gap between intent and impact of the Strategy.
The updated Strategy contains bold commitments to: ensure gender equity is a formal pillar of fisheries sector management, by aligning with current policy by integrating modern legislative mandates; to close inherent gaps by addressing the structural challenges that hinder women’s and youth participation, and benefit from the sector; and to drive inclusive through a “gender-transformative” model that recognizes and values every actor in the fisheries ecosystem.
Despite their critical contributions to the value chain, women and youth continue to face systemic barriers from limited access to credit and technology to exclusion from key decision-making processes. The collaboration is an activity under GFRA’s Strategic Priority 3 to foster inclusive decision-making, strengthen local capacity, and ensure that sustainable development reaches the communities that need it most. The ongoing process builds on previous efforts by USAID and other partners to ensure that the strategy is an actionable roadmap for inclusive development of Ghana’s fisheries sector because the future of Ghana’s fisheries is inextricably linked to the empowerment of women and youth.
