Monitoring survey reveals early career traders tend to follow recommended training practices more often than experienced traders

This study investigated the efficacy of training interventions on the fish-trading practices of women traders with different levels of experience (<10 years, early career; 10-20 years, mid-career; and >20 years, experienced). A baseline survey with 58 women was conducted to identify the challenges encountered, and 42 women trained on fish handling and processing techniques, value addition, marketing and entrepreneurship. Three monitoring rounds were conducted after every three months to assess how they applied the knowledge gained from the training. Findings show experienced women tended to stop adhering to the highest number of practices taught (50%, n=16), followed by mid-career women (43.75%, n=16) and, lastly, early-career women (31.35%, n=16). Early-career traders increasingly focused improving fish quality and satisfying the customer. Mid-career women focused on business management and hygiene improvement, while experienced traders focused on business expansion. Early-career fish traders achieved improvements through stronger operational efficiency, while mid-career and experienced women traders achieved improvements through emphasising customer focus. By the third monitoring round, the main challenges facing early-career women traders included financial, credit and rising costs (50.0%); mid-career women included equipment, infrastructure and energy (33.3%) and market and competition (27.8%); and experienced women included post-harvest losses (25.0%) and lack of equipment (25.0%). The findings highlight the need for regular training targeting women in fish handling and processing techniques, value addition, and marketing and entrepreneurship, irrespective of experience level. This will ensure that, while they provide safe food for human consumption, they improve their well-being.