With two weeks to go before the summit that will bring together the leaders of the European Union and the African Union in Brussels on 17 and 18 February 2022, the team that has taken over the reins of AFRIFISH - the continental platform that brings together non-state actors in African fisheries - is determined to make itself heard.
Gaoussou Gueye (Coordinator - Senegal), Patricia Maisha (Vice-Coordinator - DRC) and Okeloh W’Namadoa (Secretary General - Kenya), share their experiences, their priorities for 2022 - the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture - and their messages to decision makers.
"The willingness of African fisheries stakeholders to engage with policy makers goes back a long way," explains Okeloh W’Namadoa, AFRIFISH's Secretary General, "however the first time we were able to do so was at the first Conference of African Ministers of Fisheries and Aquaculture (CAMFA I) in 2010. From that moment on, we understood that we had to speak with one voice, to unite, rather than carry out advocacy actions in a fragmented way”.
is a fisher and fisheries activist who has been working with artisanal fishers' organisations in Kenya and Eastern Africa for over 30 years. He is from a fishing community in Busia County, Western Kenya. His passion for securing the livelihoods of fishing communities was born while fishing with his grandfather on Lake Victoria and the River Nzoia. He is actively engaged in ensuring that fishing communities secure a greater share of fish production in Eastern Africa and African continent. Okeloh is also President of the Eastern Africa Platform of Non-State Actors in Fisheries and Aquaculture convening 15 countries.
Gaoussou Gueye also remembers the event: "Imagine that: African fishing communities and civil society representatives from seventeen African countries gathered in Banjul on this occasion. We discussed for two days. It was a first for Africa! We saw that our problems were similar and we wanted to propose solutions to decision-makers. I remember reading our civil society declaration on sustainable fisheries livelihoods in Africa to the assembled Ministers in the plenary. Already, we were stressing the need for stakeholders to be involved in decisions that affect fishing communities.”
The development of sustainable small scale fisheries is now an integral part of the African Union Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture, adopted in 2014. Artisanal fisheries are presented as essential in the fight against poverty and for contributing to the continent's food security and nutrition, besides providing employment throughout the value chain. The African Union also advocates "structured participation of resource users and non-state actors in policy formulation and resource management".
Okeloh W’Namadoa precises that it was the AU Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the AU Development Agency-(AUDA-NEPAD) that financially supported the creation of five platforms bringing together non-state fisheries actors in African regions. Then came the desire to bring these regional platforms together in a pan-African platform. "This is how AFRIFISH was born. Both the regional and continental initiatives were made possible thanks to the FISH GOV I & II projects, supported by the EU," he continues.
Women, the forgotten ones in African artisanal fisheries
In its reform strategy, the AU recognises the crucial role of women in African artisanal fisheries, in processing, trading and harvesting fish. Patricia Maisha, who supports the work of women in artisanal fisheries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, confirms: "Women represent a large part of the artisanal fisheries sector in Africa. But despite this, concrete progress to make their lives easier is still lacking.” She takes the example of her country, where "women in artisanal fisheries, whether inland, river, lake or sea fisheries, are the forgotten ones. They work in very difficult conditions, inhaling smoke all day. They buy expensive firewood, which also contributes to deforestation. They have to fear violence and sexual harassment when they want to buy fish. To cope with all this, they receive little support from the authorities.”
began working with women fishmongers in Lake Tanganyika 12 years ago, and has since extended her support to Congolese women working in artisanal fishing, fish farming, processing and marketing. She also trains young people to work alongside women in fish processing and transporting products. She is on the board of African Women Fish Processors and Traders Network.
And then, like almost everywhere in Africa, there is the scarcity of fish: "there are many reasons for this: overfishing, fishing of immature fish, sedimentation of rivers that threatens spawning areas." One hope for improving the supply of raw materials for women fish processors is artisanal fish farming. For Ms Maisha, "the two complement each other; to try to make up for the lack of harvested fish, we do small-scale fish farming, of tilapia, catfish. With my organisation, we train fish farmers on how to make ponds, select fry, produce fish feed. For the feed, we use a little fish powder, but it's mostly plant-based.”
For the vice-coordinator of AFRIFISH, in the context of the partnership between the EU and the AU, there are many things that can be done to improve the daily life of women in the fisheries sector: "Services need to be improved, such as the cleaning of processing sites, and also the infrastructure used by women, to provide them with modern ovens for drying and smoking, to set up the cold chain for those who want to keep the product fresh. There is also the issue of refrigerated transport, and the problems of packaging that need to be resolved to better preserve the fish that is exported. Too much fish is lost currently”.
Exclusive fishing rights for small-scale fisheries
According to Patricia Maisha, another scourge that plagues Congolese fishermen operating on the country's Atlantic coast is competition with foreign fleets: “Our coastline is not large, but it is now being invaded by Chinese companies that come and empty our oceans, and that also goes on beyond our borders, in Angola or Congo Brazzaville”.
Gaoussou Gueye is well aware of the competition with foreign industrial fleets: "The priority for African artisanal fishermen must be, in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14b, to secure access to the resources they exploit and to the areas where they fish. We want states to grant exclusive fishing rights to artisanal fishermen in these areas. They should be co-managed by the state and artisanal fishing communities to ensure sustainable management, and include appropriate conservation tools, such as marine protected areas designed and managed with fisheries-dependent communities.”
But having a secure access to resources "also means being safe at sea. African countries should sign and implement the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 188 on work in the fishing sector. Safety training for captains and crews, the use of new technologies, and safety awareness among fishermen are all essential elements that could be improved with the implementation of this convention. Today, only six African states have signed this convention.”
Resisting the sirens of the blue economy
According to Okeloh W’Namadoa, the dangers facing African fisheries sometimes come from outside, from other sectors of the "blue economy": "Fisheries and Aquaculture is the largest component of the African blue economy, and fish is the only resource of the blue economy that is renewable. But our countries' agenda in this area, which unfortunately isn’t clear for most, risks putting African fishing communities in a precarious situation, where they will be clouded by the other components of the blue economy. Although the scope of the blue economy may differ in each African country, most agree that the conservation and sustainable use of marine, inland aquatic resources contribute to food security, job creation, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, as well as to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Hence, the need to religiously protect and defend fisheries and aquaculture dependent communities in Africa blue economy.”
has been a Senegalese artisanal fisheries professional for over 30 years. As the president of the African Confederation of Professional Artisanal Fisheries Organisations (CAOPA), he has participated in many international meetings on fisheries where he advocates tirelessly for the improvement of living and working conditions of African artisanal fishing communities. He also chairs the West African Non-State Fisheries Actors platform.
Gaoussou Gueye agrees. In his view, the precautionary approach must guide the development of the blue economy in Africa: "Before giving the go-ahead to any new activity that will exploit our oceans, lakes and rivers, independent social and environmental impact assessments must be carried out in full transparency and with the participation of the coastal communities concerned. No new development should be allowed by states, or supported by donors, if it has a negative impact on ecosystems and the activities of the communities that depend on them for their livelihoods”.
Listening to the concerns of the various stakeholders, Okeloh W’Namadoa underlines that "it is clear that the five regional platforms of non-state actors face the same issues: recognition of the importance of artisanal fisheries, the need to support them, good governance, conservation of resources and ecosystems... It makes sense to come together in a continental network, which will be supported by strong and representative networks of regional and national non-state actors, who will give it legitimacy. The continental platform will provide a space for interaction and advocacy, it will help create new links between fisheries non-state actors in Africa and stimulate their coordination, strengthening their capacity to promote the interests and rights of artisanal fishing communities in Africa."
From the perspective of partnership relations between Africa and the EU, W’Namadoa also sees an interest in creating a dialogue with European civil society on these issues of conservation and good governance, but also on other issues such as investment: "Those who come to invest in African fisheries, does what they propose correspond to our needs? Does it respond to our problems?”
And he concludes: "At the end of the day, African stakeholders and decision-makers all want the same thing: to see things change to improve the lives and livelihoods of our fishing communities.”
Banner photo: The landing site and beach in Kafountine, Casamance (Senegal), by Agence Mediaprod for CFFA.
This article analyses a series of studies jointly commissioned by CAOPA and CFFA on areas reserved to artisanal fisheries in several African countries. The author sheds light on common challenges for protecting small-scale fishers access and the pressing need for better developing co-management in coastal fisheries, and looks into how can the EU support protection of small-scale fishers’ access to resources.