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ProjectSupport for Boosting Intra-African Trade in Agricultural Commodities and Services to Advance the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - TCP/RAF/3708 2022
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African Heads of State and Government, through the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods (Malabo Declaration), have made a clear commitment on Boosting Intra African Trade ( in agricultural commodities and services This commitment includes harnessing market and trade opportunities locally, regionally and internationally by creating and enhancing policies, institutional conditions and support systems and tripling intra African trade in agricultural commodities and services by 2025 The 2017 Inaugural Biennial Review Report of the African Union Commission on the Implementation of the Malabo Declaration found that only three of the 29 Members reporting on the commitment to BIAT in agricultural commodities and services were on track to meet the commitment by 2025 Meeting this commitment on time requires building capacity to address policy, technical and investment constraints and minimize domestic food price volatility Despite the impressive gross domestic product ( growth rates experienced on the continent in recent years, Africa has remained a marginal player in both domestic and world trade The share of intra African merchandise exports in 2017 was around 19 6 percent of total exports (by value) The relatively low performance of intra African trade in agricultural commodities is of particular concern In the face of abundant unexploited suitable resources for agriculture, the continent depends on extra African sources for more than 80 percent of imports of food and agricultural products As a result, Africa faces a food and agricultural import bill growing at a yearly average of 3 6 percent, reaching USD 72 7 billion in 2017 To take advantage of fast growing intra African market opportunities, African agriculture must undergo a structural transformation that entails shifting from highly diversified and subsistence oriented production systems towards more market oriented ones This requires both a bold shift in policy and substantial investment to overcome the severe under capitalization, as well as low productivity and competitiveness of the sector In order to tackle the constraints on national and regional food marketing and trade, there is a need to face up to two broad categories of challenges The first set of challenges concerns prioritizing and filling the deficit in hard and soft market and trade infrastructure The second set of challenges requires tackling the policy and institutional deficiencies to strengthen intra regional and inter regional market integration and trade facilitation. -
Book (stand-alone)Assessment of IUU activities on Lake Victoria 2012
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No results found.Fishing all over the world is a major source of food for humanity and a provider of employment and economic benefits to those engaged in the activity. However, with increased knowledge and the dynamic development of fisheries, it should be known that world living aquatic resources, although renewable, are not infinite and need proper management, if their continued contribution to the nutritional, economic and social well-being of the growing world’s population is to be sustained. Lake Victoria i s Africa’s largest and most important inland water body with a total water surface area of 68,800km2. Lake Victoria contributes significantly through its fishery and generation of electricity to the economic benefits of not only the riparian states, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, but also to the neighboring countries and the world at large. Lake Victoria is arguably the most important single source of freshwater fish on the African continent, contributing significantly to national and regional econ omies and livelihoods of the regions inhabitants. Although not often associated with inland fisheries, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and the trade of illegal fish has threatened the biological, social, financial and cultural integrity of the lakes resources and those that depend on them. Given that Lake Victoria’s living resources are shared amongst the three riparian states, a regional fisheries body, the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) was formed in 1994 though the technical assistance of the FAO to manage the fisheries resources in Lake Victoria as a single ecological entity. Within the LVFO mandate, the identified areas of IUU fishing are considered in the form of: Illegal or misuse of fishing gears; illegal fishing, fish landing, processing and trading; unregulated fishing number of boats, fishers and gears (capacity); unregulated, unreported or undocumented domestic and regional fish trade; fishing and landing undersize fish in undesignated landing sites; and fishing during closed seasons or in the closed breeding areas or critical habitats. The decline of Nile perch stocks suggest that fisheries management and compliance structures within the three riparian states and at LVFO at the moment are at various levels of disarray, hence allowing IUU fishing to continue thriving unabated. Since the introduction of Nile perch into Lake Victoria in the 1950’s it has been the focus of an intensifying commercial fishery. In 1980, a total of 4 439 to ns of Nile perch were harvested, a decade later over 338 115 tons of Nile perch were landed annually. From 2000 to 2010, and average of 253 404 tons of Nile perch are caught. Despite relatively consistent landings reported by the LVFO, total biomass of Nile perch decreased from 1.4 million tons (92% of total biomass in Lake Victoria) in 1999 to it lowest recorded estimate of 298 394 tons in 2008 (14.9% of total biomass in Lake Victoria). Currently, as of 2010, the Nile perch biomass was estimate d at 18% of total biomass in Lake Victoria, which equates to 367 800 tons. Although a slight increase in biomass between 2008 and 2010 was observed, Nile perch biological indicators suggest that the fish is in a critical survival state. The average size of Nile perch has decreased from 51.7 cm TL to 26.6 cm TL, according to hydro acoustic surveys suggesting that a significant portion of total Nile perch biomass is less than 50 cm TL (legal size for export). It was reported by the LVFO stock asse ssment team that in 2006 and 2008, less than 2% of the Nile perch biomass was in fact greater than 50 cm TL. The size at first maturity of male and female Nile perch is also decreasing, this common amongst fish populations that are stressed (or overexploited). Despite the biological indicators, which suggest legal size Nile perch are less than 2% of total Nile perch biomass, the average number of fishermen increased by 33% between 2000 and 2008. During the same period, Frame survey and MCS compl iance missions noted a marked increase in the number of illegal gears being deployed to target undersize Nile perch. The number of vessels increased by 37% and the use of outboard engines increased by approximately 50%. It has been reported that motorized boats are more efficient, catching about 25 kg of fish per day, compared to 10 kg caught by non-motorized vessels. The increase in use of illegal gears, motorized vessels and fishermen suggests that fishing for Nile perch is still profitable. P reviously driven by lucrative export prices for Nile perch, fishers now target undersize illegal Nile perch for the lucrative domestic and regional trade, which is estimated to exceed the export trade by volume and value. This shift in fishing for undersize Nile perch will effect government revenues earned from the export fishery. The Nile perch fishery over the last decade contributed 0.6% less to the Tanzanian GDP, similarly, a decrease in export trade of Nile perch from Uganda of 14% occurred between 2007 and 2008, resulting in a 0.1% decrease in GDP contribution. By not controlling fishing effort targeting illegal, undersized and immature Nile perch, economic and social hardships will worsen. Current fisheries management both regionally through the LVFO, and nationally amongst the riparian states is inadequate, with respect to Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS). MCS is a collection of activities and tools intended to support fisheries management in fighting IUU fishing, and forms the framework on which accurate, informative and dynamic fisheries management decisions can be made. MCS is critical at all levels of fisheries management. Within the Lake Victoria region, co-management has been implemented through the establishment of Beach Management Units (BMU’s). A BMU is a community-based organization, which is legally accepted as a representative of a fishing community and is mandated on a voluntary basis to engage in MCS initiatives. Lake Victoria has 1 087 registe red BMU’s according to the harmonized BMU guidelines, agreed upon amongst the member states and the LFVO. Although the inclusion of community based management and MCS is critical in contributing to effective management of Lake Victoria’s fisheries resources, many challenges exist, including amongst others; geographical isolation of fishing communities, social issues (families of BMU members may partake in illicit activities), political interference (revenue collections, or election voting), corr uption, conflict of interests (BMU members are often fishmongers and fish traders) and lack of representation in higher management committees. Although advances in MCS technology have revolutionized fisheries management amongst many ESA-IO countries, the sharing of regional resources and capacity is fragmented and not effectively harnessed by the LVFO. Database management systems are not working effectively, data collecting, analyzing and dissemination are unreliable and time inefficient, respec tively and appropriate MCS tools for example net gauges are not available. The RWG-MCS reported that between 2004 and the end of 2008, a total of 4 605 suspects were apprehended, 12 126 beach seines, 9 550 small seine nets, 27 703 monofilament nets, 248 843 kilograms of immature Nile perch (249 tons) and 254 589 illegal gillnets were confiscated. These data are unreliable; furthermore they were not quantified in terms of definition of the item (how long were the nets that were confiscated 80 met er, or one kilometer, this has a profound effect on CPUE), of financial loss to fishers and traders versus the opportunity costs of MCS. The valve of court fines are insignificant especially if one considers the amount of uncontrolled fishing effort, uncontrolled illegal gears used in Lake Victoria, and the increasing value in the trade of immature fish on domestic markets. Also, there is no indication as to whether the court penalties and fines imposed on the same offences in the three partner states have any reference to the same severity across the region, or are recycled back into MCS initiatives. It is therefore difficult to determine whether the RWG-MCS interventions from 2004 to the end of 2008 were beneficial, as little to no comparative data exists. The LVFO depends highly on donor funds to support MCS and management initiatives, including training, capacity building and technical expertise. When donor funds are not available, regional MCS stagnates, which is a major concern. Operation Save the Nile perch is one such example. The EAC Council of Ministers in 2009 launched the ‘Operation Save the Nile Perch’ (OSNP), which required each of the three member states to contribute US$ 600 000. The goal of the initiative was to target illegal fishing and to curb the trade in undersize Nile perch currently threatening the economic integrity of Lake Victoria. The target of OSNP, as ratified by the Council of Ministers was to have fisheries illegalities in the lake, based on th e 2008 frame survey data as bench mark, reduced by 50% in June and 100% by December 2009. Currently as of 2011, Kenya has paid the required funds, with Tanzania only contributing 31% and Uganda zero resulting in less than half of the required funds paid in by from the member states. This undermines the legitimacy of ‘Operation Save the Nile Perch’ and political will and MCS operational capacity. The aim of this report was to assess the state of IUU in Lake Victoria, and to support the SMARTFISH programme in assisting the LVFO and established MCS committees to implement joint regional MCS trainings, by conducting a short cost benefit analysis of enhancing existing regional MCS initiatives and by evaluating past and present regional action plans to deter IUU fishing on Lake Victoria. An action plan was developed through a participatory workshop between the LVFO, national states and the MCS-RWG, held in Jinja, Uganda from the 5th to the 7th of October 2011. -
ProjectProject Document Formulation: INTRA-ACP Fisheries and Aquaculture Blue Growth Programme for Improved Value Chains Productivity and Competitiveness - TCP/INT/3704 2020
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No results found.A number of African, Caribbean and Pacific ( countries rely, to varying extents, on fish trade for food security and economic development In addition to their value in trade, fisheries provide an important source of protein, employment and foreign income for the majority of ACP countries Despite their potential contribution to sustainable development, fisheries and aquaculture generally account for less than 5 percent of GDP of ACP countries, though the figure ranges from less than 1 percent in some countries, such as Vanuatu, Kenya and Jamaica, to as much as 14 percent in the Marshall Islands A number of factors impact upon this weak contribution, in particular a lack of private sector investment in fisheries and aquaculture businesses, as well as low productivity, including food loss and waste due to poor handling and processing, which in turn results in low prices and constrains access to markets with higher prices These constraints have been recognized and discussed by ACP fisheries and aquaculture ministers in a number of fora (such as the ACP Strategic Plan for Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Declaration of the 5 th meeting of the ACP Ministers in charge of fisheries and aquaculture) One response of the ACP Secretariat was to reach out to FAO for assistance in securing funding from the European Union, as part of 11 th European Development Fund ( for a project to increase the sustainability of fish value chains across the three ACP regions Subsequent discussions between the ACP Secretariat, the European Union’s Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) and FAO resulted in the formulation of a way forward by focusing on prioritized value chains in ACP countries and investing significantly to enable micro, small and medium sized enterprises in the value chains to access finance and other forms of investment funds In December 2018 following a formal request from the ACP Secretariat to access EUR 40 million from EDF 11 via the ACP Fisheries and Aquaculture Action Document and to submit the action document for review at the next EDF 11 Finance Committee in 2019 DG DEVCO agreed to the request for the FishInvest project.
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