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Brazilian fisherwomen honored as heroines at FAO awards ceremony

Luena Maria Ferreira dos Santos, known as Luena Pataxó, is 44 years old and has spent her entire life connected to fishing and the sea. As a child, she helped her parents clean fish and shellfish. As an adult, she worked as a fisherwoman but turned to shrimp gathering after becoming a widow. This week, Luena Pataxó was honored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy. She and Joana Rodrigues Mousinho, a 70-year-old fisherwoman, were the two Brazilian women selected as FAO Heroines in Agri-Food Systems and Rural Development. Notícias relacionadas:Brazil’s Agricultural Research Company named Reference Center by FAO.The initiative honored 100 women from around the world whose work has contributed to food security, social inclusion, environmental sustainability, income generation, and the resilience of rural communities. Luena Pataxó was deeply moved by the opportunity to represent fishers, shellfish gatherers, and the Pataxó indigenous people. “You can’t talk about food or food production without talking about water and artisanal fishing. We are part of the healthy food on Brazilians’ tables,” she said. Luena Pataxó also chairs the Fishermen’s Relations Committee in Bahia state and founded the National Indigenous Working Group under the National Plan for Artisanal Fisheries. A Pioneer in fishing The other Brazilian honored by the FAO was Joana Rodrigues Mousinho. The first woman to chair a fishermen’s association and one of the country’s pioneers in obtaining the General Fishing Activity Registry (RGP), she has worked in artisanal fishing for more than 60 years in the Santa Cruz Canal, in Itapissuma, in the state of Pernambuco. Mousinho was one of the founders of the National Network of Women Fisherfolk, a movement that helped raise the profile of women working in Brazil’s artisanal fisheries and advance their rights. In 2024, she received the Women of the Waters Award, presented by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Artisanal Fisheries in Marine Waters category.