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INTEGRATING SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES IN POVERTY REDUCTION PLANNING IN WEST AFRICA |
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The
experience that the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) has
accumulated since it was set up three years ago shows that small-scale
fisheries are, on the whole, rarely taken into account in public economic
and social development policy. Fisheries policies are typically guided by
sectoral approaches, where the human factor is often of negligible
importance in decision-making. In
some cases, the effect of this is to increase the vulnerability of
small-scale fisheries communities. Moreover, fisheries stakeholders find
it difficult to broaden their outlook from the immediate issues related to
poverty, to consider alternative, or complementary, solutions, beyond the
sectoral boundaries. These various elements are all entry points for the
SFLP in promoting the development of sustainable and adapted poverty
alleviation strategies in the small-scale fisheries communities of West
Africa. With
these aims in mind, the SFLP has set particular importance on strategic
partnerships with other donors and NGOs. In this context, the SFLP has
found that there has been a convergence in the concepts and approach of
different donors when dealing with poverty alleviation in West Africa. The
underlying principles of these initiatives are close to those of the SLA,
particularly the need to promote holistic, participatory and modes of
planning, and to encourage the emergence of synergies between the
different development partners. In this context, the PRSP (Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper) process, initially encouraged by the Bretton
Woods institutions, takes on particular importance in the various
countries. Approach Since
the PRSP process is likely to have an increasing influence on the policies
and institutions, which affect on poverty alleviation, the SLFP decided to
include an activity on that specific issue in its 2002 work plan. Requests
and questionnaires were sent to the SFLP National Coordination Units (NCUs),
and, on the basis of the results, the SFLP Regional Support Unit (RSU) was
able to compile some national poverty alleviation documents and a
preliminary analysis of the relationship between the PRSP process and
small-scale fisheries. The
main outcome of this clearly showed that small-scale fisheries are rarely
taken into account in PRSPs formulation, and that the NCUs have little
knowledge of the approach and issues related to PRSPs. This
omission led to consultative talks with the SFLP participating countries
in order to understand why small-scale fisheries had not yet been included
in the PRSP processes, to assess the advantages of their inclusion with
reference to the SLA and the CCRF and, where necessary, to identify
potential areas where the SFLP could provide support to the various
countries in this process of integration. This dialogue led the RSU to organize a Consultation, in Cotonou from 12 to 14 November 2002, on integrating small-scale fisheries in poverty reduction planning in West Africa. The expected outcomes of the consultation were to:
[Consultation Report –
Read
online 145K – Download
30 K] A
total of eleven countries were asked to send representatives to the
meeting : Benin,
Congo, Côte d’Ivoire,Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria,
Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. The
choice of countries was based on an analysis of the questionnaires sent
back by the NCUs, and the representation of French-, English- and
Portuguese-speaking countries. The Consultation can be seen as an
important step towards the better integration of small-scale fisheries
into the PRSP processes, a process in which the SFLP has an important role
to play, including through promoting the development of strategic
partnerships with other donors. The
Consultation gave also the possibility to review the main outcomes of the
FAO/SFLP Joint Working Group on poverty in small-scale fisheries (April
2002). [Final
Report – Read
online 681 K – Download
566 k For additional information, please contact the Planning Officer |
