FAKOYA KAFAYAT ADETOUN

Fisheries

At the Fisheries department office

Appointment on Visitation important

Topic: Sustainability Of Fisheries -based Livelihoods

Description:

Ecological and social issues including gender affecting small-scale fisheries-based livelihoods and aquaculture are at the heart of my research. I leverage on adaptive learning, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies as well as mixed methods approach to synthesize new knowledge and spur innovative ideas. I have worked at local –case site studies and conducted systematic reviews at national level. My work has been mainly in Nigeria though I have recently embarked on a dialogue project in Kenya and hope to expand my research collaborations to other parts of the globe.

With a broad background in fisheries, my earliest works contributed knowledge to the food and feeding habits in the snakehead fish, Channa obscura. In my doctoral work, I successfully demonstrated application of the size-frequency distributions to infer pattern of habitat use and ontogenetic shifts in the Gorean snapper, Lutjanus, goreensis. Comparison of the presence/absence of juvenile and adult fishes in juvenile versus marine habitats facilitated classification of estuarine – dependency in the species. I have also provided complementary information on the well-being and reproductive habits of the Gorean snapper in Nigerian coastal waters.

In aquaculture, I presented a paper on the developmental trends viz-a viz challenges and opportunities in the sector and as a follow up identified research priorities for the growth in the sector. In addition, I was able to make a compilation of seaweeds resources in Nigeria’s coastal environment and suggested ways by which they can be harnessed and utilized for commercial production and culture.

My research has become more interdisciplinary. I have contributed to works of other colleagues and gained unquantifiable experience in project management and research from collaborative partnerships as a co-principal investigator with Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAFS); Illuminating Hidden Harvests: Nigeria small-scale fisheries with FAO/Duke University / WorldFish,  and Seafood Safety Certification in Nigeria with WorldFish.

#	Certificate	School	Year
1.	Ph.D (Fisheries)	Lagos State University	2015

Evaluation of hybrid solar- biomass fish dryer for improved fish processing and sustainable livelihoods in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Fish is the commonest and cheapest source of animal protein for the teeming. The prevailing deficit in fish supply and high post-harvest losses however impose serious limitations to the availability of fish as an accessible source of animal protein. Generally, facilities to keep the cold chain unbroken are lacking while current mechanization of fish processing is low and dominated by traditional methods of smoke –drying and sun-drying that are rudimentary in nature.

Home grown technologies which can modernize the traditional fish processing technologies of sun-drying and smoking of fish have not been adopted at the field principally because of limited access to credit and high cost of equipment when available. Enhancing willingness, access and adoption requires policy direction that emphasizes inclusion of the end-users, in the conception, design and production of local innovations and culturally appropriate technologies that situate applicability in relation to their socio-economic conditions.

The main objective of this research will be to evaluate the performance of hybrid solar fish dryers in reducing postharvest fish losses while increasing economic gains and reducing the use of forest resources.

Different participatory action approaches to collect information on gendered value-chain analysis in smoked fish and fish processing practices; gender analytical frameworks to analyze gender-disaggregated data and measure qualitative performance of time and labor.

1.      Gender equitable participation in technology design and enhanced control over benefits.

2.   Better understanding of contextual factors and trade-offs that result in gendered inclusion or exclusion in technological designs, practices and interventions.

3.      Improved understanding of product quality specifications for solar –dried foods.

FAKOYA KAFAYAT is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Fisheries

FAKOYA has a Ph.D in Fisheries from Lagos State University