FAO.org

The analysis made of the effectiveness of national fishery and aquaculture policies and strategies in ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania has shown overall that their implementation faces with problems related to the low level of domestic funding allocated. This is compounded by their heavy dependence on external financing through TFP programmes and projects in which the objectives are not always aligned with those of national policies. Thus, the attractiveness of the sector will have to be improved by establishing a much more favourable environment for private sector investment in fisheries and aquaculture, given the substantial investment gaps highlighted by the financial analysis of the various national fishery and aquaculture investment plans.

The sector’s share in the State budget is also expected to increase, as it does not reflect the importance accorded to the sector in national development policy and strategic planning documents. This meagre budgetary appropriation is one of the main factors making policies in West Africa less effective. Moreover, despite the efforts of Member States, the fisheries and aquaculture sector still faces challenges such as weak participatory governance, low human and technical capacity, persistent IUU fishing, low levels of aquaculture production, high post-harvest losses, etc., which detract from the sector’s contribution to the FNS among the different populations, especially in marine and river coastal communities.