Evaluation of the contribution of the fisheries sector to the national economy of West and Central African countries

Analysis and summary of the studies conducted in 14 countries:

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, São Tomé & Principe and Senegal.

F. Tallec and M. Kébé

SFLP, February 2006

Introduction

The Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) is a regional programme the objective of which is to reduce poverty in small-scale fishing communities of West and Central African countries through the sustainable improvement of the livelihoods of fishing communities. More specifically, the SFLP aims to strengthen the human and social assets of fisheries stakeholders, promote the sustainable management of fisheries resources, and develop an enabling institutional and political environment that will make it possible to take the needs and aspirations of fishing communities into consideration[1] in the development process.

The programme initiated a series of actions aimed on the one hand, at partially making up for the dearth of information available on the role of small-scale fisheries in national economies, and on the other hand, arousing more interest for the sector among decision-makers and development partners involved in implementing poverty alleviation programmes. These case studies were conducted in Benin, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Principe, as well as in the countries participating in the SFLP Pilot Projects (PP1: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali; PP2: Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Mauritania; PP3: Cameroon, Chad, Gambia and Senegal) with a view to evaluating the economic and social contribution of the fisheries sector to national economy.

The studies are conducted in each country by a team of three persons including: an economist specializing in macro-economic analysis, a statistician, and a fisheries specialist. The relevance of the results is strengthened by the connection between these areas of specialization. It gives a global view and provides an idea of the costs involved in implementing all the fisheries-related activities (direct and indirect). The data for fisheries products (primary sector) are jointly presented with the data for fisheries processing (secondary sector), as well as marketing and feeding (tertiary sector).

The major objectives of these national studies are:

- To evaluate the economic and social contribution of fisheries.

- To formulate recommendations and proposals aimed at improving the methodology guide proposed by the SFLP and the statistics data collection system of the fisheries sector.

All the results obtained are analyzed in this report which presents a summary of the 14 case studies conducted as part of the three SFLP Pilot Projects (the report of Chad is not available) (cf. map 1)

The objective of this report is the same as that of the case studies, namely: to evaluate the economic and social contribution of fisheries to national economy. The fact that the 14 national reports are jointly presented makes it possible to conduct a detailed comparison of the fisheries sector in the different countries. It presents the thematic analysis and underscores the strong and weak points of the countries when compared with each other.

All these thematic analyses will end up being used to determine the grading of the national priorities of the 14 countries studies. At the end of the exercise, it is expected that the contribution of the fisheries sector will receive more consideration in national accounts and development planning in these countries, as well as in its contribution to national food security.

The summary of the national reports will first examine the quantitative results and statistics (part I) before analyzing the qualitative results of the fisheries sector (part II). Because the statistical data were heterogeneous in nature, it was necessary to render them in a uniform manner, especially in terms of units of measure (of area, weight…) currency and year of study. The year in which the greatest number of common data was available was in 2002. These data are presented on the same table for the 14 countries. Some statistical analysis highlights the special relationship that exists between some of the data. To complement these analyses, it would be interesting if the most important results of the study could be determined in a cartographical manner.

The major aspects of the socio-economic contribution of the fisheries sector are developed in a quantitative manner in part II. In the first instance, the small-scale fisheries sector is studied in a cross-cutting manner through the course of the qualitative analyses, especially as it relates to the financial contribution of the fisheries sector to national wealth. The major criterion used is that of the added value created through the sale of fisheries products. It justification in the evaluation of the fisheries sector and the complicated aspects of its calculation are clearly defined.

In the second place, it would appear as if the comparison of the trade balance of the fisheries sector of the 14 countries in which the study was conducted would yield some interesting results. Knowledge of the volume exported and imported makes it possible to estimate the amount of fish available for national consumption, and by extension, the national food security level.

Finally, part II addresses the economic impact of the fisheries sector in local development and national budget. It makes it possible to account for the different repercussions that the fisheries activities may have on the rest of the economy and on public revenue.

In the last part (part III), the challenges and prospects that the fisheries sector represents in national economy are discussed. This chapter starts with a summary of the recommendations suggested in national reports. This requires knowledge of the major proposals of the 14 countries. After this, a brainstorming session is organized on the different areas of the country’s economy that the fisheries sector has an impact on. This suggests that a relationship exists between the development of fisheries activities and other components of national policies.

This chapter ends with a reference to the challenges and procedures required for possible joint action between fisheries stakeholders made up of the various groups and cooperatives. It makes it possible to assess the fisheries sector from the point of view of a chain, thus introducing the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the relationship between the different stakeholders of the sector.

Download the summary of the report (pdf)

Download national reports (pdf)

·                    Benin

·                    Burkina Faso

·                    Cameroon

·                    Cape Verde

·                    Chad

·                    Congo

·                    Côte d’Ivoire

·                    Gabon

·                    Gambia

·                    Ghana

·                    Guinea

·                    Mali

·                    Mauritania

·                    São Tomé & Principe

·                    Senegal

[1] Cf. SFLP Field report No.15, Cotonou, December 2002.