Smoked fish for a better environment
In the village of Dado, in the south of Benin, along the Lake Ahémé shore, a smokehouse with ‘Chorkor’ ovens contributes to the preservation of the environment and the improvement of the working conditions of women.
The practice of smoking fish is very common in fishing villages along Lake Ahémé. Indeed, smoking fish has many advantages because it makes for longer conservation and strengthens the flavour of the fish. It enables storing the products and facilitates packaging, transport and marketing.
Women are in charge of the processing of fish and shrimp. Traditional ovens proved inefficient in capacity and fuel usage and consequently they contributed to the depletion of mangrove and forest covers around the lake. Moreover, women suffered health risks from smoke inhalation, burns and exposure to raw heath.
High-performing ovens
In view of reducing the negative impact on the environment and of improving the working conditions of the women who process the fish as well as the quality of the products processed, the Support Project to the Development of the Fisheries Sector (ADEFIH) built a pilot smokehouse equipped with Chorkor ovens.
The Chorkor oven consists of two elements: The smoke unit, built on a rectangular basis, and the smoking trays (see photograph). The trays are placed one on top of the other, which creates a chimney that makes for easier permanent circulation of the smoke inside. The oven is easy and safe to use. Moreover, it has a high processing capacity, uses little fuel wood, results in shorter smoking time and produces high-quality smoked fish.
The village of Dado was chosen for the construction of the smokehouse because of the group of women there who process the fish; it was an active group and it was motivated by the new smoking technology.
Accounting and management
The construction of the smokehouse was entrusted to a local NGO called I.D. Pêche. This NGO, which is specialized in the fisheries sector, also took care of training the women in using the ovens and in managing the centre. During the training sessions the women were also made familiar with the basics of accounting and management in order to improve the profitability of their operations.
The smokehouse was officially transferred to the group of beneficiary women on 25 February 2010. These women strongly appreciate the new technology and quickly got used to it.
Since the centre was built, the working conditions of the women of the beneficiary group have clearly improved and it is expected that their household incomes will soon increase (less fuel wood, reduction in working time, increased capacity).
The centre was also built in order to function as a model in the project intervention zone. Visits by groups of women of neighbouring villages will be organised to disseminate the technology to other women who process fish along Lake Ahémé.
