Investing in Africa's fisheries

Fisheries contribute to the food security of 200 million Africans and provide income for over 10 million people. They support economic growth through exports and provide environmental services, for example increasing the value of water. However, the potential of the sector is not being fulfilled.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) launched a Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme in August 2005. The aim is to guide investments and realise the potential of aquaculture, inland fisheries, and coastal and marine fisheries. The main objectives are to:

• Increase fishing communities' access to new technologies and services. This includes better fish farming methods and sources of fingerlings (young fish).
• Make successful technologies available across Africa. One approach is mutual learning under the NEPAD Continental Outreach, operated by the Regional Economic Communities and National Programmes.
• Develop policies that enable private companies, public organisations and civil society organisations to sustain and, where possible, expand fish production.
• Enable fishing communities to benefit from expanding markets and trade by improving their access to markets.
• Share benefits from fisheries (such as access to fishing grounds and income) more fairly amongst poor people.

Government and donor support

African governments increasingly include fisheries in national planning and financing processes. For example, the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme supported the inclusion of fisheries into Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. This should ensure more reliable funding from national governments for fisheries and improve accountability of how funds are spent.

Government support should encourage more private sector investments in the fisheries sector. The NEPAD Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme provides a framework for planning, implementing and monitoring these diverse investments, to ensure they have the maximum impact.

The Programme has renewed commitment to the fisheries sector amongst African governments and development partners. Several countries have declared Presidential Initiatives on Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, including Nigeria, Senegal and Malawi. The WorldFish Center has launched two African regional programmes on aquaculture and small-scale fisheries. The World Bank and partners established the Program on Fisheries (PROFISH) partnership. This helps countries reach a consensus about fisheries strategies and introduce these into national economic planning. The World Bank also started the Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the Large Marine Ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa, which provides grants to country-level fisheries projects.

It is hoped that all the projects under the NEPAD Fisheries and Aquaculture programme will benefit African governments. They allow fisheries and aquaculture to support national development objectives and emphasise the value of the sector. This will enable governments and cooperating partners to make strategic investments in the sector and realise its huge potential.

Sloans K. Chimatiro
NEPAD Secretariat, Development Bank of Southern Africa, 1258 Lever Road, P.O. Box 1234, Halfway House, Midrand 1685, South Africa
sloansc@nepad.org
T +27 11 313 3824
F +27 11 313 3450

See also

New Partnership for Africa's Development
www.nepad.org

Report of the Consultation on integrating small-scale fisheries in poverty reduction planning in West Africa, Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme in West Africa, SFLP/FR/15, 2002 (PDF)
www.sflp.org/ftp/dload/frpt15.pdf

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