Participatory landing site development for artisanal fisheries livelihoods is a practical guide for formulating a development strategy for coastal artisanal fisheries in developing countries. It is intended for those responsible for implementing projects and close enough to the field to work with landing site users. It guides the reader on how to ensure the continuous support of landing site users, explains where and at what stage to seek technical and financial support and indicates the different types of information required by funding and technical agencies to be able to finance and implement a project.
The manual is based on the authors’ experience with participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) at landing sites and coastal fisheries communities in Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau and other West African countries. The text uses examples from these countries. The use of "fisheries production chains", adapted from the agricultural "transect walk", is a new addition to the participatory toolbox.
In contrast to existing materials on participatory approaches in fisheries, this manual:
centres around the improvement of livelihoods rather than management of resources;
uses landing sites as an entry point, rather than communities;
presents the tools in a step-by-step format, for easy and simple application;
provides the user with a minimum of relevant participatory tools necessary to formulate a project, rather than a vast array of possible tools;
applies the information collected through participatory analysis using the SLA framework; and
gives guidelines for the development of a widely supported development strategy and formulation of one or more projects to implement the strategy.
In this way, the manual helps project officers to use the information collected more effectively, enabling them to be true intermediaries who are able to give landing site users specific projects in return for the time and effort they invest in "participation".
Verstralen, K.M.; Lenselink, N.M.; Ramirez, R.; Wilkie, M.;
Johnson, J.P.
Participatory landing site development for artisanal fisheries
livelihoods.
Users’ manual.
FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No.
466. Rome, FAO. 2004. 128p.
