Jansen holds a Dr. Philos in Social Anthropology from the University
of Oslo (1985). His thesis was entitled: «Rural Bangladesh - Competition
for Scarce Resources», published by Norwegian University Press/Oxford
University Press. His Mag. Art. thesis (1974) from the University of
Bergen was entitled «The fishermen in the Kenyan part of Lake Victoria».
From 1995 to 1999 he took leave of absence from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Oslo, to work as a Technical Adviser for a research and development
project concerning the globalization of the Lake Victoria fisheries
in East Africa. The project is being implemented by IUCN (The World
Conservation Union).
The Globalization of the Lake Victoria Fisheries and its Effects
During the last 20 years the fishery of Lake Victoria has been completely
transformed. From being a locally based fishery with little intervention
and capital investment from outside, the present fishery is dominated
by national and international capital penetrating the industry. The
project aims to study the globalization which takes place in connection
with the development of the Lake Victoria fisheries. Some 35 national
and transnational companies, situated on the shores of Lake Victoria,
now process and export most of the lake’s fish to Europe, Japan and
USA. The questions the project addresses are: What are the effects of
this export in terms of the food security situation of the local people,
local employment possibilities and the sustainable exploitation of the
fish resources of the lake?
The project is being implemented in collaboration with government research
institutes and local NGO’s in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and institution
and capacity building in socio-economic research is a major objective
of the project. Another major objective of the project is the creation
of awareness of the issues which are addressed. The reports and findings
of the project have been distributed widely in the press, journals,
radio and TV in East Africa and contributed to stimulate a policy debate
of the development options for the Lake Victoria fisheries. The project
has produced a video entitled «Big Fish - Small Fry» which summarises
the main findings of the project. The video has been shown on various
TV-channels in Africa and Europe.
Recent reports:
Eirik Jansen is now at the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
