Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) in West Africa
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Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) represents a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Department for International Development of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (DFID) and the 25 participating, developing countries of Western Africa. The participating countries are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The duration of the SFL Programme is 5 years from 1 September 1999 and it has a budget of UK£21 547 660 (equivalent to US$34 515 735). FAO is the executing agency for this programme which is totally funded by DFID. The SFL Programme is now operational with Project Coordination Unit in FAO HQ Rome and its Regional Support Unit in Cotonou, Benin. The 25 participating countries have shown their initial enthusiasm with full-hearted support from government, NGO and fish-producer organizations by participating in a series of sub-regional and national awareness raising workshops organized by the SFLP. In future, both small projects at national level and pilot projects at sub-regional and regional level will be developed by the countries and supported by the Programme. This SFL Programme is seeking to reduce poverty in coastal and inland communities by improving the livelihoods of people dependent on fisheries and aquatic resources. It will do this primarily through the development of social and human capital in fisheries-dependent communities, by enhancing the natural assets of those communities, and by supporting the development of appropriate policy and institutional environments. It will provide a basis for lesson-learning and policy-development in the application of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) to poverty-reduction objectives, as well as for wider dissemination and replication of the results through FAO, which has a global mandate to support all developing countries in the management of their fisheries. The primary beneficiaries will be the resource-users in artisanal fisheries communities, particularly the poorer groups of fisherfolk, small-scale traders and processors (mostly women) and consumers. Through a "process-approach" these beneficiaries will be helped to progressively, and in a participatory manner, identify, implement and evaluate development activities which correspond to their own needs and aspirations. With this active participation of the stakeholders themselves, their interest and ability to contribute to effective management of the fisheries resources will increase and thus help ensure the sustainability of their livelihoods. The secondary beneficiaries will include the Fisheries Departments, plus other related government departments, NGOs, the national and regional sectoral planners and others who have overall responsibility for proper management of the fisheries sector. The Programme is expected to achieve lasting impact in governance at central and local levels, and in policy at both national and at international levels. Sustainability within the area of government policy and planning will have been facilitated after the successful incorporation of the CCRF into national fisheries development and management plans. Sustainability at the local level will be enhanced with local communities participating in the planning and management of the aquatic resources. The livelihoods of poor resource-dependent people will be secured and in many areas, improved. The experience and knowledge gained will have been disseminated elsewhere in the region and in the wider international sphere with beneficial consequences. |
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Prepared by Richard Coutts
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This small village in Niger will benefit from a
SFLP project to construct a reservoir for juvenile
fish
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A fish drying area in a Senegalese community
where fish processing employs 80% of the women
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Map of participating countries
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