6.1 United Nations organizations in the region
6.2 Other organizations in the region
6.3 Economic communities of the region
6.4 Regional and global aquaculture development projects
Many of the countries in the region described by the survey are active in a number of regional organizations in which aquaculture has been recognized as a sector, either individually or as a component of a larger sector such as fisheries or agriculture, and which has received support in some form.
The principal regional organizations are those of the United Nations in which almost all the countries in the region actively participate as member states. Most of these same countries participate in the specialized agencies of the UN system, such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank (WB), etc., all of which have a substantial record of providing technical and financial assistance to aquaculture development.
Another UN organization of particular concern for the region, (including North African countries - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia - not included in this review), is the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) which, in its programme for agriculture and natural resources, seeks self-sufficiency in food production and management of resources. ECA also has multi-national programming and operational centres (MULPOCs) in Cameroon, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, and Zambia.
Other UN organizations active in the development of aquaculture in the region, or in other regions and hence are of benefit to countries of the region under survey through interregional project activities, are the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Some specialized agencies of the UN which are also active in their support to the aquaculture sector directly or indirectly are the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The UN system assistance to aquaculture in the region began in the mid-1960s and included such projects as experimental work on brackishwater aquaculture in the Niger Delta of Nigeria in 1965, and a regional project for Cameroon, CAR, Congo, and Gabon, which was based in Bangui, CAR. Until the mid-1970s, the efforts were few. Since then development projects have become more frequent, either exclusively for aquaculture or as components of fishery or rural development projects. Between 1972-84 assistance from UNDP, including Funds-in-Trust which are primarily channelled through FAO, amounted to US$ 17.2 million, of which US$ 16.1 million (94.8%) were provided by UNDP, US$ 0.7 million through Trust Funds, and US$ 0.3 million through FAO's Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP).
The World Bank's lending, including technical assistance, has often been included with larger fisheries, agriculture, or rural development projects. The only major World Bank aquaculture project in the region would have been in Kenya, where the Bank was expected to provide a loan component for about US$ 1 million for the construction of a 25 ha (water area) fish farm at Kabonyo, near Lake Victoria. This project, however, was discontinued after several years of support and technical work by the UNDP/FAO ADCP programme when the loan was cancelled. Currently the Bank is planning to provide a loan to Nigeria which will have an aquaculture component.
UNICEF has provided funds for school ponds projects in Côte d'Ivoire under the UNDP/FAO Freshwater Rural Fish Culture Development Project. It is also supporting feasibility studies on cage and pen culture in Ghana, and provided US$ 302 400 for the payment of salaries of fish farm extension workers and for materials used for extension in CAR. UNEP provided funds for a symposium on Marine and Freshwater Ecology which took place in Nairobi in 1985, and involved participants from the region. Finally, IFAD is considering assistance of about US$ 10 million to Nigeria, in which there is a small aquaculture component which is expected to lay the foundations for a subsequent investment programme.
UN assistance has been instrumental in the development of aquaculture in the region. It has directly supported several levels of the aquaculture sector but aspects of policy making, planning, and management have never been included.
There are several other regional organizations other than those of the UN system which support aquaculture development. One is the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The OAU was established in 1963 at Addis Ababa on signature of Charter by representatives of 32 governments which included all the countries described by this survey except Réunion, South Africa, and St. Helena. Another is the African Development Bank (AfDB), with headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, which has 50 African and 25 non-African members. In addition, there is the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), which has nine member countries; and the Commonwealth with 15 members. Finally there is the European Economic Community (EEC) which has 45 African ACP States which are signatories of the Third Lomé Convention.
Other smaller organizations, mainly River and Lake Basin Authorities or Commissions, have expressed interest in the sector through fisheries enhancement activities. These organizations are the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) with 4 members, namely Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, the Niger River Commission, with 9 members, the Lakes Tanganyika and Kivu Basin Commission, with 5 members, and the Commission of the Great Lakes, with 3 members (Burundi, Rwanda and Zaïre). A detailed list indicating country membership to these organizations is given in Table 7.
Some of these organizations have been active in their support to the sector. The AfDB is providing funds for the construction of fish ponds in Guinea and supported the training of 36 participants at ARAC. The Commonwealth, through its Secretariat, provided scholarships for 22 trainees at ARAC and organized two workshops on aquaculture in Nairobi, Kenya, and in Freetown, Sierra Leone; the EEC supported 10 trainees at ARAC and provides support for projects in at least three countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Malawi. Finally, through concerted effort, SADCC has been able to attract a major project ALCOM - "Aquaculture for Local Community Development" in the region, for which the donor, SIDA, is expected to contribute about US$ 986 000 (see section 6.4).
There are two monetary unions and two regional central banks in the region. The first, the Union Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale, with its Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC), groups Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, and has its banking Headquarters in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The second, the Union Monétaire de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, has its Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO) in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and groups Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. The monetary unions and banks act as institutions in charge of money issue and harmonization of monetary policies in member countries.
There are four economic communities in the region. These are (1) Union Douanière et Economique de l'Afrique Centrale (UDEAC), created in 1966, with headquarters in Bangui, CAR, and groups Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon: (2) Communauté Economique de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEAO) created in 1966 with headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and groups Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Mauritania, with Benin and Togo as observers: (3) the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), established in 1975 with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, with a membership of 16 English, French and Luso-speaking countries; and finally (4) the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) created in 1983 with a membership of 10 English, French and Luso-speaking countries.
The objectives of these economic communities are to encourage harmonious and balanced development in the economic activities of member states with a view to rapid improvement in the standard of living of their populations. Furthermore, to set up at the regional level an active policy of economic integration and cooperation in particular with respect to the development of agriculture, cattle breeding, fisheries, industry, transportation and tourism, and to develop exchange of agricultural and industrial projects between member states, in particular through the establishment among them of an organized trade zone.
These organizations have expressed interest in the sector and Fisheries Committees have been established within UDEAC, CEAO and ECOWAS. CEAO has planned and designed a new aquaculture research and training centre in Tiebissou in Côte d'Ivoire as a facility for its members, but there is no funding for its construction as yet. This centre is part of the Institut Supérieur des Sciences et Techniques Halieutiques (ISSTH) of CEAO.
The FAO/ADCP Aquaculture Aid Profiles (1988) lists three African regional development projects active in 1987. The first is ALCOM, "Aquaculture for Local Community Development". This project is funded by SIDA and executed by FAO. It is directed toward the nine SADCC countries, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The project is centred in Lusaka, Zambia. The main objective of the project is to improve the utilization of knowledge by the beneficiaries - the local community. To this end, the project is expected to elaborate effective strategies, policies, and methodologies for assisting rural peoples in improving their quality of life through the development of aquaculture, either in conjunction with land-based farming, or as an alternative to fishing. During this initial phase therefore, the project is undertaking a series of in-depth studies covering socio-cultural, economic, technological and ecological aspects of aquaculture in rural development. It is establishing pilot community fish farming activities as a part of an existing general rural development project, and preparing a set of guidelines and protocols for selecting, formulating and implementing similar development activities elsewhere.
For eight years UNDP supported a project to establish the African Regional Aquaculture Centre (ARAC), executed by FAO. The programme, which ended in 1987, was sponsored by 18 countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, and was centred in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The project was most active in the academic training of 131 senior aquaculturists, and had lesser components of research and information exchange.
As a follow-on of this project, and further support at the regional level, UNDP is currently considering financing a new project for called an "Integrated approach to aquaculture development in Africa". This will probably involve 11 countries, mostly in West and Central Africa.
Finally, UNDP funded the Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme (ADCP) in support of global initiatives in aquaculture. Its activities have extended into Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Mediterranean regions. Advisory and guideline publications deal with both administration of the sector, such as in technical assistance, economic development, planning, engineering, marketing, etc., and in technology. Through ADCP's interregional programmes, 16 participants from eleven countries in the region, namely: Cameroon (4), Kenya (3), Ghana (2), Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia (one each), have attended the 3-4 months Integrated Fish Farming courses organized by NACA in Wuxi, China. IDRC funded the participation of African trainees at this training course: Cameroon (2); Kenya (2); Côte d'Ivoire (1), Nigeria (1) and Tanzania (1).
