The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement in the Development of Artisanal Fisheries in Africa

2023-06-15 15:23:58

The inclusion of stakeholders in the development of artisanal fisheries is “at the heart of the concerns” of public authorities in Africa.

Fishing is an important lever in the economic growth of the African continent. However, several actors are not always aware of the decisions that decision-makers often take on their activity, often creating misunderstandings and frustrations. Faced with this situation, the Working Group on Artisanal Fisheries (GTPA) of the Fisheries Committee for the Central-East Atlantic (CECAF) launched Thursday, June 15 in Dakar a three-day workshop to improve regional knowledge on fisheries. artisanal in its member countries.

“Artisanal fishing is an eminently complex activity, requiring a definition clearly shared by all States, studies on the biological and socio-economic aspects, and harmonization of collection methods. The inclusion of actors in the development of the sector is at the heart of the concerns of public authorities in all countries of the world, particularly in developing countries for which it constitutes a challenge in a context of climate change, the exploitation of offshore oil and scarcity of resources”, explained Diène Faye, Director of Maritime Fisheries in Senegal, chairing this meeting co-organized with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Representatives of Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Nigeria and Togo take part in this work. They serve as a framework for reflection on how to better define and characterize artisanal fishing in the region on the basis of the reference document “characterization of marine artisanal fishing in CECAF”.

Indeed, the scope of the artisanal fisheries working group should cover the entire value chain, including the harvesting, processing, marketing and consumption aspects of the sector.

« In Senegal, the fishing sector generates 600,000 jobs, contributes 3.2% to the national GDP and 12% to the GDP of the primary sector and provides 72% of the protein intake of animal origin to the populations. “Said Mr. Faye, recalling that his country exported “240,935 tonnes of fish products” in 2021 for an estimated commercial value of 231 billion CFA francs.

ODL/ac/APA

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