Introduction
It was the Working Party’s view that human capacity development is “the process by which individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and societies develop their abilities - both individually and collectively - to set and achieve objectives, perform functions, solve problems and to develop the means and conditions required to enable this process”.
According to this definition it is not only important to have due consideration for the levels at which human capacity development takes place and the value of the human capacity development process in itself, but also, with the attainment of the objectives for which human capacity enhancement is required. In the case of fisheries, this clearly refers to the objectives of fisheries management.
As underlined by the Commission for Sustainable Development (1992) and by the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995), it is increasingly being recognized that fisheries management must be strongly focused towards the achievement of sustainable development of fishing activities or fisheries.
Thus, the main central objective of human capacity development in fisheries may be seen as the process intended to improve the abilities, means and conditions to contribute to the attainment of sustainable development of fisheries.
Sustainable development
According the Commission for Sustainable Development (1992), the achievement of sustainable development is not only dependent upon the sustainability of the environment and its natural resources, but also on the level of economic and social conditions reached by the people using the environment and its natural resources.
In this context, fishery resources use and conservation and, therefore, fisheries management must be considered as directly related, not only to the need to sustain the environment and natural resources base over time, but also to the need to satisfy human needs and welfare.
Following Dourojeanni (1993) it is possible to graphically represent (Figure E-1) the achievement of Sustainable Development by the simultaneous attainment of three objectives: (i) environmental and natural resource sustainability, (ii) economic growth and (iii) social equity.
Figure E-1 is a modification of Nijkamp (1990) triangle in which each side represents the three objectives previously mentioned. The arrows represent the direction for the achievement of the specific objective and the central area represents the zone of possible reconciliation of these objectives and is the equilibrium zone for sustainable development.
In simple terms, the attainment of environmental sustainability refers to the balance between the human rate of use of the environment and its resources, with natural resources rates of growth and environmental resilience[1]. In similar terms, the attainment of economic growth is related, among other things, to the generation of employment, food, income and wealth (net economic benefits). Social equity refers to the need to give due consideration to the need to generate equal opportunities among people (generational, gender, cultures) to have access to the natural resources base for its use and to the wealth generated.
Therefore, the attainment of sustainable development implies the balance between these three objectives or, in other words, to their simultaneous achievement.
Sustainable development, required knowledge and skills
In a simple way, the concept of Sustainable Development can be graphically described in a Venn diagram (Figure E-2). In this diagram, each one of the three objectives is represented as a set of conditions that requires a certain amount of knowledge and skills to be fulfilled in order for the objectives to be met. The intersection of these three sets represents sustainable development.
Some of the required knowledge and skills arise as a result of the dynamic behaviour of fish and fish stocks over time, and are dependent upon environmental changes as well as on human behaviour (people fishing and other activities). Also, other knowledge and skill needs arise from the fact that human behaviour over time is highly dynamic and interdependent with fish resource base availability, prevailing market conditions, legal and institutional frameworks and existing technical and scientific knowledge.
ACFR/WP/HCB/I/2 presented to the FAO Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research has identified a number of knowledge areas and skills required for human capacity development in fisheries. There is a need to link and reorganize these skills and knowledge areas according to the conditions required to achieve Sustainable Development and its three simultaneous objectives.
References
Dourojeanni, A. 1993. Procedimientos de Gestión para el Desarrollo Sustentable: Aplicados a Microrregiones y Cuencas. Santiago: Instituto Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Planificación Económica y Social de las Naciones Unidas (ILPES). Documento 89/05/Rev1.
Nijkamp, P. 1990. Regional Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Use. In World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics. Washington D.C.
Figure E-1: Sustainable development and its three simultaneous objectives
Figure E-2: Simple system view of sustainable development
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[1] The term use refers both to
the concept of extraction and consumption (with or without transformation) of
natural resources, as well as, to non consumptive uses and
conservation. |
