The International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) has revealed that it is developing an e-commerce platform called Dhumashi for women fish processors.
IPNLF secured financial and incubator/mentoring support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under their Ocean Innovation Challenge (OIC) programme and launched the project on Increasing Economic Benefits for Women Fish Processors in the Maldives on September 19. IPNLF stated the core objective of the two-year project is to develop an e-commerce platform and build capacity to activate the stakeholders and the island community towards greater autonomy of their business through effective use of the e-commerce platform. The project has identified resources on capacity building on food hygiene and safety, product standardisation, labeling and marketing, and general business development training.
The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Gemanafushi Island Council and with support from women processors following the initial baseline survey conducted in October. IPNLF staff visited the island in November to demonstrate the prototype of the Dhumshi e-commerce platform. IPNLF stated the opportunity will be available for any women processors on the island to make use of the e-commerce platform once it is launched. Formal registration of interest in the business development training and in the Dhumashi Programme was opened on November 16.
IPNLF stated that the issue of women processors in the islands not being able to get the maximum economic return is an issue picked up by the IPNLF-Maldives Survey in 2018. These include not getting paid on time and getting lower prices than they should otherwise when their products are sent to Male’. These issues and the general decline in demand for smoked fish have led to a reduction of processing activities by women processors on Gemanfushi. These are challenging for processors in the outer islands with little immediate economic opportunities.