A participatory action research conducted within a fishing community in the Western Region of Ghana suggests that opening a space for leadership to emerge from marginalised groups promotes participation of community members in development processes.

The study was conducted by the WorldFish Centre in collaboration with the Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance Project. It was based on participatory resource and social mapping, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, participant observations, and wealth ranking exercises.

Results of the study indicate that community members can champion development activities to enhance their livelihood opportunities when the needs of women are genuinely addressed.  This provides a basis for innovation to encourage collective efforts at the community level to deal with the challenges with of development and dwindling fish catches in our fishing communities.

Details of the study are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wrr.2016.04.001.