Fish Smoking and Processing

Who it is for. Beginners with no formal certificate, including school leavers, women's groups and persons with disabilities. National Proficiency I is the first level of Ghana's TVET framework.

Why fish smoking

• Sardinella, locally called "ban" or "amane", is the most common smoked fish in the Western Region. About 78 percent of the marine canoe catch is smoked. About 70 percent of the fish eaten in Ghana is smoked.
• Women do most of the processing. In Africa women hold about 60 percent of processing jobs, and the processors' association counts about 33,000 fish processors in Ghana.
• Safety is now enforced. On 28 July 2026 the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) announced that it had confiscated unhygienic smoked and salted fish.
• The biggest danger is in the smoke itself. Traditional ovens burning firewood have given smoked fish with up to 33 times the European limit for harmful chemicals called PAH. This course teaches the Chorkor honestly, because most women own one, and also the improved options.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical.

What "example" means

Numbers marked example are made up to teach the method. They are not real prices or facts. Prices and oven costs from older reports carry their year. Collect today's real prices yourself in the homework tasks.

Competency standard

Range. The training smoking site and a practice fire. Evidence. Safety checklist; oral questions; site sketch.

The dangers

• Smoke. Smoke carries tiny particles and gases such as carbon monoxide. Long exposure can harm the eyes (cataract, conjunctivitis), the lungs and the heart, and high exposure has been linked to low birth weight and stillbirth.
• Smoke reaches the body three ways. By mouth, by the lungs and through the skin, so processors are exposed on all three routes.
• Burns, backache and eye problems. Women smokers report burns, backache, breathing problems, eye irritation and headaches. Severe finger burns can even stop fingerprint identification.
• Heavy trays. A full Chorkor tray can hold up to 18 kg of fish, and a rack on an improved kiln up to 20 kg. That is a heavy load to lift again and again.
• Fire. Ghana smoking kilns often run with fire temperatures of 300 to 700 °C. A moment of carelessness can burn skin or set the shed alight.
• Children are at higher risk because they spend more time near the smoke source.

Protective equipment (PPE) and where to buy

A safe layout for your smoking site

1. Choose a covered, well-ventilated place away from houses and from where children play.
2. Keep separate areas for raw fish, for processing and for storing finished fish.
3. Keep a bucket of dry sand, a bucket of water and a first-aid kit within reach of the oven.
4. Keep the path to the oven clear of baskets and children. Leave at least one arm's length free around the fire hole.
5. Store firewood away from the fire hole, and never store fuel such as petrol near the oven.
6. Keep the wood to the side, not under the trays.

Safe lifting and posture

1. Put the tray down on a stand or table the height of your hips, not on the ground.
2. Bend your knees, not your back. Keep the tray close to your body.
3. Do not carry a full tray alone. Two people carry, or take out half the fish first.
4. Change tasks during the day: sitting jobs (sorting, packing) and standing jobs (turning).
5. Drink water and rest in the shade.

Hygiene rules

• Cover your hair, wash your hands with soap and running water, and do not rush.
• Wash fish and tools in basins and carry waste water away.
• Keep raw, processing and storage areas separate.
• Use only safe water for washing fish.
• Never use diesel, rubber, tyres, waste oil, or painted or treated wood as fuel.
• Follow the WHO five keys to safer food: keep clean, separate raw and cooked, cook thoroughly, keep food at safe temperatures, use safe water and raw materials.

Children and child labour

• Keep children away from the oven, the embers and the smoke. The FTT guide warns to protect children when embers are moved.
• A study in fishing communities around Lake Volta found about 60 percent of the children interviewed were doing child labour, including diving, net work and fish processing. Data for the Western Region were not found.
• Rule for this course: children do not smoke fish or lift heavy trays. School comes first. The law behind this is not cited here and has not been verified.

Check yourself 1

1. Name three health problems smoke can cause.
2. Why is a cloth mask not enough protection?
3. Why must children stay away from the smoking site?

Competency standard

Range. Fresh sardinella and one larger fish. Evidence. Freshness record; observation of washing and gutting.

Why it matters

• Good raw fish gives good smoked fish. The quality of the end product depends on the raw material and the process.
• In the major fishing season, 10 to 30 percent of the catch is down-graded because of poor icing and handling. Such fish is made into momone (fermented fish) and sells for about half the price of good fish.
• Fish spoils from long exposure to hot air, from passing through many hands, and from transport. Proper use of ice at every stage is recommended.
• Fish drained on sand full of bacteria become dirtier.
• Histamine is a poison that forms when bacteria act on fish that has been kept warm. Quick chilling after catch is the main control, and neither freezing nor cooking destroys histamine.

Where fish comes from

Most processors buy from fish traders, often called "fish mothers", who pay for canoes; some buy straight from fishers. If supply is short they travel to other landing beaches. In the lean season some processors buy frozen fish from cold stores and smoke it. Trials in Ghana also used frozen sardinella.

How to judge freshness: sight, touch, smell

Use this table (from the FAO and EEC freshness guide for herring, a fish like sardinella) with your own eyes and nose. It was made for cold-water fish, so train your eyes on local fish with your trainer. A Ghana-specific chart for sardinella was not found.

"Gill odour is particularly discriminatory", which means the smell of the gills tells you the most. For white fish such as barracuda: eyes bulging with a black pupil and bright red gills are best; eyes completely sunken and a sour or rotten smell are unfit.

Ice and the cold chain

The aim of chilling is to bring the fish down to the temperature of melting ice, 0 °C. The correct ratio of ice to fish for Ghanaian canoes is not verified; one research team held anchovy on flaked ice at 1 part ice to 1 part fish in a perforated cold chest for next-day use. Treat that as a research practice, not a rule. Block ice can be bought at Sekondi harbour, where an ice plant was reported to make 30 tonnes a day; today's ice price is not verified, so ask the seller.

Good habits (generic good practice, taught by your trainer):

1. Keep fish in the shade, never on bare sand or in the sun.
2. Ice the fish soon after it is out of the water.
3. Do not pile the fish deep; the lower layer is crushed and warms faster.
4. Use clean, insulated boxes and let melt-water drain away.
5. Wash the box after each day.

Washing and sorting

1. Put clean water in two basins: one for the first wash, one for the rinse.
2. Take only as many fish out of the ice as you can process in a short time.
3. Pick out damaged, soft or dull fish (grade C) and set them aside.
4. Wash the fish well in the first basin to remove blood, scales and slime.
5. Rinse in the second basin. Change the water when it turns dirty.
6. Sort by size, because large and small fish smoke at different speeds. Cut large fish into smaller pieces so more surface is open to the smoke and heat.

Gutting and cutting (large fish)

Small fish such as sardinella are often smoked whole, not gutted. Large fish are gutted and cut. Practise on one large fish:

1. Use a sharp, clean knife and a clean board. Wear your gloves if the knife is slippery.
2. Cut from the vent up to the gills along the belly. Do not push the knife deep.
3. Remove the guts and the black belly lining with your fingers.
4. Cut away the gills.
5. Wash the belly cavity under clean water.
6. Cut the fish into pieces of even thickness so they dry at the same speed.

Mistakes and fixes.

Check yourself 2

1. Which part of a fish tells you the most about freshness?
2. What do you do with grade C fish?
3. Why should large fish be cut into smaller even pieces?

Competency standard

Range. One salting trial and one drying trial. Evidence. Weights before and after; observation.

Why dry?

Wet fish spoils because germs and insects need water. Moisture left in the fish speeds spoilage and brings insect attack. In one Ghana study, smoked-dried fish with 24 to 26 percent moisture went mouldy within 7 days in sealed packs, while fish below 10 percent moisture kept for over 24 weeks in vacuum packs.

Ways people prepare fish in Ghana

Salting: what we know and what we do not

Steps for a salting trial (the trainer supplies the local recipe):

1. Wash and sort the fish as in Unit 2. Use clean, food-grade salt from the market, not salt for animals or for roads.
2. Weigh the fish and weigh the salt. Write both in your logbook.
3. Put the fish and salt into a clean, covered plastic bowl or bucket, not a metal one that rusts.
4. Salt for the time the trainer sets. Keep the bowl in the shade and covered.
5. Lift the fish out and drain on a clean mesh tray.
6. Weigh again. Record the change.
7. Taste a small piece from the trial. Is it too salty or not salty enough? Note it.

Air drying before smoking

1. Spread the washed fish in one layer on a clean wire-mesh tray, not touching.
2. Put the tray in a shaded, windy place off the ground, covered with a clean net or cloth against flies.
3. Turn the fish at least once.
4. In the Ghana FTT trials, the washed fish was air-dried on trays before being cooked on live charcoal.

Solar drying

• Open-air sun drying is unhygienic and loses value from dirt, dust, rain and insects. Insect-tight solar dryers were built to fix this.
• At the University of Education, Winneba, six locally made solar dryers used hardwood frames, nylon net, chicken mesh and polyethylene sheeting. The drier air reached 45.4 °C against 34.0 °C in the open, and solar-dried tilapia scored best in taste tests. Germs including E. coli were still found, so hygiene still matters.
• A CSIR-FRI prototype for anchovy used an insect-tight box with a clear cover. Washed anchovy was dried in thin layers: 24 hours at about 36.7 °C then 12 hours at about 42.7 °C, giving a dry product (water activity 0.62), though a little browner.
• A solar tunnel dryer for anchovy dried in 7 to 8 hours on a clear day, against 1 to 3 days in the open sun.
• The cost of a solar dryer in cedis was not found. Ask a carpenter for a quote for a wood frame, net and clear plastic sheet.

Making a simple covered drying rack (trial)

Dimensions are not taken from a standard. Make it the size your carpenter can build from available timber.

Tools and materials. Four wooden legs about waist height; wooden frame; chicken wire or nylon net; clear polythene sheet; nails; hammer; saw; tape measure. Buy timber at a carpenter's workshop or timber yard, mesh and plastic at a hardware shop.

1. Build a level wooden frame on four legs, waist high, so you do not bend.
2. Fix wire mesh or nylon net across it to make a tray bottom. Use food-safe, clean mesh.
3. Build a cover of clear polythene or net over the top, with an opening on one side for air, so insects cannot enter.
4. Put the rack in full sun, on a clean floor or concrete away from dust and smoke.
5. Load washed fish in one layer. Weigh a marked tray at the start and every 2 hours.
6. Compare with an uncovered tray beside it. Which dries faster? Which has more flies?

How do you know it is dry enough?

• Fish that is dried or hard-smoked should end at 10 to 15 percent moisture or even lower.
• Without a moisture meter, use the bend and snap test (a common trainer method): a dry piece is stiff, bends a little and snaps or cracks; a damp piece bends without breaking and feels cool and soft.
• The better test is weight loss: weigh a marked tray at the start and every 2 hours. When two readings in a row match, the fish has stopped losing water.
• Moisture meter prices in Ghana: not verified.

Check yourself 3

1. Why does drying keep fish from spoiling?
2. Why should you not copy a brine ratio from a stranger?
3. Name two ways to know fish is dry enough.

Competency standard

Range. One soft-smoked and one hard-smoked batch. Evidence. Batch record; observation; finished fish.

What a Chorkor is

The Chorkor is a square combustion chamber with one fire hole at the front. It can be a single or a double unit. About 8 wooden trays sit on top of the chamber, and in the busy season there may be more. It was developed in 1969 at Chorkor, near Accra, and is built from local materials: clay, clay bricks, or plastered clay bricks, fired or not. Life is 4 to 8 years, depending on materials.

Capacity. Up to 18 kg of fish per tray; 16 trays on a double unit.

Cost. In 2015 to 2016 a Chorkor cost GH¢400 to 800, depending on labour and number of trays. That is an old price. Today's price is not verified; get quotes from local builders.

The good and the bad of the Chorkor

Where the harmful chemicals (PAH) come from:

1. Wood that burns badly, with lots of smoke.
2. Fish fat dripping onto the fire and burning.
3. Fish surface or fat overheated.
4. Too much smoke for too long.

So the rules are: separate cooking from smoking, keep fat off the fire, keep the cooking air at about 80 °C and not above 85 °C if possible, never above about 105 °C, and apply smoke last and briefly. Fully lit charcoal gave less PAH than wood in all kilns tested in Ghana.

Parts of a Chorkor

For racks, the FAO guide gives a wood frame about 100 cm by 80 cm, frame height about 10 cm, at most 10 racks, up to 20 kg of fresh fish per rack. Use mesh of about 1 cm for small fish up to 3 cm for large fish, with wire about 0.7 mm thick. The exact inside length and width of a Chorkor chamber was not found in the sources (FAO Technical Paper 535 pp. 21 to 31 was not read). Copy a good working oven nearby, for example at Axim, Ankobra or Ekpu, where smoking sites exist, and ask the builder for the measurements.

Tools and materials for building (and where to buy)

Steps to build a Chorkor (with a builder)

Do not build alone the first time. Work with an experienced builder and ask for the measurements of the oven you copy.

1. Pick a covered, well-ventilated place away from houses and children's play areas.
2. Level the ground. Test with a spirit level.
3. Mark the square base with string. Keep both diagonals equal so the base is square.
4. Lay bricks in rows with clay mortar, staggering the joints. Leave the front fire hole open.
5. Raise the walls to the height your model uses. Check every row with the level.
6. Let the walls dry. Cracks in drying clay must be filled before use.
7. Plaster the inside with clay and leave to dry in the shade, not in the sun, so it does not crack.
8. Make the trays: wooden frames with wire-mesh bottoms. Make them the same size so they stack neatly. Remove sharp wire ends.
9. Build a cover for the top tray from plywood or tin sheet.
10. Light a small test fire. Look for cracks and smoke leaks. Fix them.

Common build mistakes and fixes.

Choosing and handling fuel

• Use dry, non-resinous, untreated wood. In Ghana, popular woods are Pterocarpus erinaceus ("esa") and neem.
• Never burn diesel, rubber or tyres, waste oil, or painted or treated wood.
• Fuel can also be farm waste such as bagasse, corn cobs or coconut shells.
• A Chorkor uses about 0.62 kg of wood for every 1 kg of fish when soft-smoking.
• Firewood is the biggest cost, over 30 percent of processing and marketing costs, then labour. Buy wood at the wood sellers near the beach or the market. Ask for the price per bundle or per kg and the date, and keep it dry under a roof.

Soft smoking and hard smoking

Traditional hard smoking can also run for 1 to 5 days and nights.

Smoking step by step

1. Prepare. Wash and sort the fish (Unit 2). Dry part of it in the air for a short time as in Unit 3. Put on your PPE.
2. Set up. Check the oven for cracks. Clean old fat and ash off the trays. Put sand and water within reach.
3. Load the trays. Spread fish in one thin layer on each tray. Do not press the pieces together.
4. Position. Put the fresh, wet fish on the bottom trays nearest the fire, and the part-dried fish on the upper trays.
5. Light a small fire in the fire hole with dry wood. Start small so the fish does not form a hard crust on the outside.
6. Keep a steady, low fire. Use short pieces of wood and feed them in gently. A fire with thick smoke or big flames means too much heat or wet wood. Add less wood, or use drier wood.
7. Stay with the oven. Never leave it. A flame leaping into the fat is a fire risk and creates more PAH.
8. Turn and swap trays. Swap trays and turn fish about every 45 minutes so they dry evenly. In 6 to 8 hours this is the practice for stacked racks. Use a long stick, gloves and, for heavy trays, a second person.
9. Finish. Near the end raise the heat a little to bring moisture down, and cover the top tray to hold heat.
10. Cool. Take trays off. Let the fish cool on clean mesh trays in a clean, covered place before packing.
11. Record. Write start and end time, weight in and out, wood used, and any problems.

Checking the fish

Poor, dark fish with a bitter taste comes from incomplete combustion and tarry smoke.

Mistakes and fixes

Cheap upgrades to a Chorkor

• A fat-collecting tray is fitted in the retrofitted Chorkor tested by CSIR-FRI. Scientists say they are still gathering evidence that it works.
• A charcoal filter modification has been tried, but results are only in summary.
• Cooking first with fully lit charcoal and a little broken pottery and then adding a short period of smoke from sugarcane waste lowered PAH in a trial in a Chorkor.
• Ask your trainer which upgrade is practical for your oven.

Check yourself 4

1. Where do you put wet fish on the oven and where do you put drier fish?
2. How often are trays swapped?
3. Name two fuels you must never burn.

Competency standard

Range. Visit, demonstration or photo study of an Ahotor or FTT. Evidence. Labelled sketches; operating steps in the logbook.

Why improved ovens exist

• The EU banned smoked fish from Ghana in 2013 because of high PAH.
• Fish from traditional kilns had PAH up to 33 times the EU limit. In FTT kilns the mean PAH levels were far lower (BaP up to 1.8 and PAH4 up to 7.6 micrograms per kilogram, against limits of 2 and 12).
• Fewer than 1 percent of processors use improved ovens, and over 30,000 women use mud ovens.

The Ahotor oven

The Ahotor is an improved Chorkor. It has a combustion chamber set in the middle of a Chorkor-like shell, a fat-collecting tray above the chamber, an air inlet at the front, a second air inlet on top of the firewood entrance, a grate under the chamber, and a fat exit at the back. It can be built new or retrofitted onto a Chorkor, using sandcrete blocks and cement, as a single or double unit.

What it does. It cuts firewood use by 32 percent, and PAH4 and BaP by 36 percent. A separate test by the Ghana Standards Authority found Ahotor fish had far lower PAH than Chorkor fish; the BaP was below the limit but the PAH4 of fish smoked with the skin on was still above it.

In use. More than 140 Ahotor ovens were installed in 29 communities. Users like the lower smoke and the better colour, taste and texture. Some find it slower than the old oven, and cost is a problem.

New versions. CSIR-FRI made a modified Ahotor in 2022 that can burn charcoal briquettes, LPG gas or firewood, and is tiled for easy cleaning. Processors liked it but noted the cost. In 2026 CSIR-FRI began a pilot in six communities in four regions to compare the modified Ahotor, a retrofitted Chorkor and a traditional Chorkor.

Price. The Ahotor price today is not verified. Ask your hub or CSIR-FRI. A dimensioned drawing was not found, so build only with a trained builder (training centres were set up by CEWEFIA and DAA in 2018).

The FAO-Thiaroye (FTT) oven

The FTT has four parts: an ember furnace, a fat-collection tray, an indirect smoke generator with a filter, and a hot-air distributor. It has two compartments: first the fish is cooked, then it is smoked. It can be built new or retrofitted onto a good Chorkor base.

Key facts.

• Fish is cooked with charcoal embers. Charcoal only; do not use firewood as the cooking fuel on an FTT.
• A fat tray sits below the rack and the fat drains out to a container. Fat can be sold for soap or used for cooking.
• The smoke is made separately by smouldering moist farm waste (for example coconut husks) and passes through a wet filter before it touches the fish.
• Ghana tests found PAH below the EU limits, and consumers did not significantly prefer Chorkor fish over FTT fish.
• In 2015 to 2016 an FTT cost about GH¢5,600 in Ghana, and the FAO guide gives about USD 800 for a kiln. Today's price is not verified. A unit has a life of at least 25 years.
• The FTT guide's exact tables are partly scrambled in the copy used for this course, so no single dimension is repeated here. Use the FAO guide and a trained installer; the FAO Accra regional office links buyers with trained installers.

How to use an FTT (steps from the FAO guide)

Cooking stage:

1. Put the fat tray below the rack that holds the washed fish.
2. Put charcoal in the furnace with broken pottery or stones that hold heat. Fan it to red embers and slide the furnace in. For the first 30 minutes use only half a furnace of embers, so the fish does not form a crust.
3. Turn the fish now and then and swap stacked racks about every 45 minutes.
4. Raise the heat slowly by refilling embers. At the end add coals to reduce moisture and close the chamber.
5. Aim for "zero flame, zero smoke" during cooking.
6. Empty the fat tray after the first hour and whenever full; empty the ash pan.
7. Cooking takes up to 4 hours for small fish and up to 8 hours for large fish.

Smoking stage:

1. Move the racks to the second compartment.
2. Wet the filter and fit it. Put moistened fuel in the smoke generator.
3. Light it, close the door and smoke for about 1 hour. The result is shiny, firm and golden fish with tight skin.

Do not. Do not skip the fat tray. Replace a dark filter. Clean the fat collector, empty the ash tray and clean trays after use.

Why improved ovens save wood

The Chorkor uses about 0.62 kg of wood per kg of smoked fish. If the Ahotor saves 32 percent, that is about 0.42 kg of wood per kg as an illustration only (0.62 × 0.68), because the tests were done differently. The FTT was 33 percent more efficient than the Chorkor in the SNV test.

Comparing the ovens

Check yourself 5

1. Name two reasons improved ovens are better than the Chorkor.
2. What is the main job of the fat tray?
3. Why must firewood not be used for cooking in an FTT?

Competency standard

Range. One batch packed, labelled and costed. Evidence. Pack and label; storage record; costing sheet.

Packing and storing smoked fish

• In the Western Region fish is traditionally sold in wicker baskets and "packs" bundled in twos. One basin of smoked sardinella (500 to 600 pieces, about 25 g each) weighs about 13 kg and equals 3 packs or 6 baskets.
• Best storage uses packing that keeps out moisture. In Ghana tests, smoked-dried fish below 10 percent moisture kept over 24 weeks in vacuum packs, and fish with 24 to 26 percent moisture went mouldy within 7 days.
• Smoked herring at 14 percent moisture kept a maximum of 6 months in several packing methods.
• Well-smoked and stored fish can last 5 months or more.
• Losses of unprotected dried fish are as high as 30 to 70 percent, with no official count.

Packing steps

1. Cool the fish completely on trays. Hot fish packed in a closed bag sweats and goes mouldy.
2. Pick out broken, burnt or damp pieces.
3. Use clean, dry baskets lined with clean paper, or food-grade bags. Do not reuse dirty fertiliser or rice sacks.
4. Pack loosely enough for air in a basket; pack firmly and seal in a bag.
5. Weigh each pack and write the weight.
6. Label (see below).
7. Store off the ground on a rack, away from walls, rodents and rain, in a cool dry room separate from the raw fish area.
8. Check the stock every week. Use the oldest first. Re-smoking stored fish now and then drives out insects.

Mistakes and fixes.

Shelf life: be careful

Soft-smoked fish keeps only 1 to 3 days. Hard-smoked fish can keep 6 to 9 months if stored properly. Do not write long dates on labels from guesswork; shelf life statements must come from tests, and the FDA asks for a certificate of analysis per product.

Labelling

A food label in Ghana must be in English and include the name, net quantity, ingredients, date made, best-before date, batch number, maker's name and address, and storage instructions. For smoked fish, add the fish name, the oven used, and "Keep dry" and "Store in a cool place". Class 1 certified processors can use "health fish" labels.

The rules: FDA, Assembly and Class 1

• FDA product registration applies to locally made pre-packaged foods. The 2020 form required a business registration certificate and a certificate of analysis for each product. Fees for three years in 2020 were GH¢150 for cottage producers up to GH¢900 for large ones, and the label evaluation was GH¢100. Current fees: not verified. A facility licence is a prerequisite. Ask FDA Western Region for today's steps and fees.
• Food hygiene permit. The FDA food hygiene permit lasts a year and must be displayed; the FDA began closing food businesses without it from February 2026.
• Health screening. Food handlers are screened under Assembly bye-laws. For example Accra's food handler certificate cost GH¢60 in 2024. Whether a fish smoker needs one in Sekondi-Takoradi is not verified; ask the Environmental Health office.
• Class 1 Recognition Scheme. In about 2019 the Ministry of Fisheries began a scheme that asks for an improved oven, hygiene training and a facility audit. One year's certificate and 500 "health fish" labels cost GH¢100. Whether the scheme still runs and its price now are not verified.
• Enforcement. The FDA seized unhygienic smoked fish in July 2026.

Costing a batch

Costs to count for every batch: fish, ice, transport, wood or charcoal, labour, water, packaging, labels, licences, losses, and a share for the oven (oven cost ÷ life in years). The Chorkor lasts 4 to 8 years and the FTT at least 25 years.

Steps to cost a batch.

1. List every cost for the batch with the price and quantity.
2. Add them to get the total cost.
3. Weigh the finished fish. Divide total cost by the kilograms of smoked fish to get cost per kg.
4. Add your profit (for example 25 percent of cost) to get the selling price per kg.
5. Compare with the market. If the market is lower, check where you can save, such as less wood, less loss and better fish.

Check yourself 6

1. Why must fish be fully cool before packing?
2. Name five things on a food label.
3. What is the cost per kg of smoked fish if the total cost is GH¢500 and you have 20 kg? (example)

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own plan. Evidence. One-page business plan; costing sheet.

Choosing a location

Smoking sites in the Western Region include Axim, Ankobra and Ekpu. Ankobra has a model processing site that groups have visited on study tours.

Who buys and where

• Smoked fish from the Western Region goes mainly to Accra and other large markets. Traders travel to Takoradi and Kumasi for it in the high season, and fish also goes to Tamale, Burkina Faso and to Denu on the Togo border.
• Processors often sell in packs of 100 to retailers. Markets have trader associations led by "commodity queens".
• Processors from Duakoro and Bantuma shared trucks and took turns on market days to Denu so they would not flood the market.
• Smoked fish has a practical selling radius of about 200 km.
• The FAO is working to link processors to the Ghana School Feeding Programme.

Prices: old facts and an invitation to check

Old price facts must not be treated as today's price. In March 2011 a basin of smoked eban sold for GH¢360 in Denu in the lean season against GH¢270 in other markets. In 2022 an advocacy article said export-standard smoked fish sold at about GH¢100 per kg, roughly ten times the local market price. Today's prices in Takoradi, Sekondi and Axim were not found. Collect them yourself (homework).

Business ideas

Money help

• Women find bank loans hard to get. In one microfinance study only 16 percent kept control of their loan.
• Village savings and loan groups (VSLAs) exist in the Western Region: six groups with 155 members and seven new groups with 222 members were reported.
• Join a processors' group. It can pool transport, buy ice and packing in bulk, and speak to the Assembly.

Marketing yourself

1. Choose a short brand name and put it on every pack.
2. Keep your fish clean and show your clean workplace (a photo on WhatsApp helps).
3. Offer samples to shops, schools and churches.
4. Be honest on the label about the fish and the date.
5. Keep a notebook of regular customers and their phone numbers.
6. Aim for Class 1 or an improved-oven label when you can.

Accessibility: a trade for everyone

Smoking fish is a women's trade. Persons with disabilities can take part in many tasks. This is design advice from the course author, not from a source, so check each task with the person's own wishes:

Work stations should be away from the oven and the smoke. Use low steps, handles on trays and a trolley to move trays. Keep paths wide for a wheelchair.

Check yourself 7

1. Name three things to check when choosing a smoking site.
2. Name two ways to sell smoked fish.
3. Name one task suited to a person who cannot stand for long, and one adjustment.

1. Name three health dangers of smoke and burns in fish smoking.
2. What are the best signs of fresh fish on the gills and eyes?
3. What do you do with grade C fish?
4. Why does drying prevent spoilage?
5. Why should you not copy a brine ratio from a stranger?
6. Name two fuels you must never burn.
7. Where do you put wet fish on a Chorkor, and why?
8. How long is soft smoking and how long is hard smoking?
9. Name two ways an Ahotor or FTT is better than a Chorkor.
10. Why must smoked fish be fully cool before packing?
11. Name five things on a food label.
12. A batch costs GH¢800 and gives 20 kg of smoked fish. What is the cost per kg, and what price gives 25 percent profit? (example)

Best next reads: the FAO FTT guide (a-i4174e); FAO Circular 1178; the Hub's Workplace Safety, Food Processing and Money Skills manuals.

What this module does not cover: brine ratios and exact salting times (not verified), dimensioned oven drawings, HACCP and FDA registration in depth, fish powder and fish cake recipes, and current prices. See Levels 2 and 3 and the hub's price surveys.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.