The Right to Food team supports the development of the National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in Colombia
Translating international guidelines into nationally led action with communities at the centre.
©FAO
12/01/2026
During a workshop held from 24 to 28 November 2025, in Bogotá, Colombia, FAO launched the project “Enhancing equitable, climate-resilient and sustainable small-scale fisheries through the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) implementation”. The global project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
The workshop brought together fishing community leaders, government officials, and representatives of non-governmental organizations, and academia.
The project will support national authorities and fishing communities in the formulation and implementation of Colombia’s National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF). This plan aims to translate the SSF Guidelines into concrete national action.
Since the SSF Guidelines call for implementation following a human rights-based approach (HRBA) with the progressive realization of the right to adequate food as a primary objective, the FAO Right to Food team contributed to the workshop by explaining what the HRBA means in practice for small-scale fishers. The team also highlighted which elements should be taken into account to ensure a participatory, accountable, and transparent NPOA-SSF.
As Ana Suarez, Human Rights Specialist from the Right to Food Team, noted: “By grounding the NPOA-SSF in a HRBA, we ensure that small-scale fishers are not only participants but rights-holders whose knowledge, priorities, and voices guide decision-making. This is essential to realizing the Right to Adequate Food and building a more resilient, equitable and sustainable fisheries sector.”
According to Heysel Calderón Gómez, FAO Colombia’s National Coordinator for Fisheries and Aquaculture: “We are the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to begin the process of implementing a National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries. This represents an opportunity to develop an operational, participatory and territorially grounded instrument that will support the transformation of small-scale fisheries in Colombia towards a more sustainable, resilient, equitable and inclusive sector.”
Looking ahead, the initiative reinforces the human right to adequate food in line with international frameworks and the Colombian Constitution. Its long-term impact is expected to include stronger governance processes, improved small-scale fishers’ livelihoods, greater climate resilience, and closer alignment between fisheries policies and broader development objectives.
The workshop brought together fishing community leaders, government officials, and representatives of non-governmental organizations, and academia.
The project will support national authorities and fishing communities in the formulation and implementation of Colombia’s National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF). This plan aims to translate the SSF Guidelines into concrete national action.
Since the SSF Guidelines call for implementation following a human rights-based approach (HRBA) with the progressive realization of the right to adequate food as a primary objective, the FAO Right to Food team contributed to the workshop by explaining what the HRBA means in practice for small-scale fishers. The team also highlighted which elements should be taken into account to ensure a participatory, accountable, and transparent NPOA-SSF.
As Ana Suarez, Human Rights Specialist from the Right to Food Team, noted: “By grounding the NPOA-SSF in a HRBA, we ensure that small-scale fishers are not only participants but rights-holders whose knowledge, priorities, and voices guide decision-making. This is essential to realizing the Right to Adequate Food and building a more resilient, equitable and sustainable fisheries sector.”
According to Heysel Calderón Gómez, FAO Colombia’s National Coordinator for Fisheries and Aquaculture: “We are the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to begin the process of implementing a National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries. This represents an opportunity to develop an operational, participatory and territorially grounded instrument that will support the transformation of small-scale fisheries in Colombia towards a more sustainable, resilient, equitable and inclusive sector.”
Looking ahead, the initiative reinforces the human right to adequate food in line with international frameworks and the Colombian Constitution. Its long-term impact is expected to include stronger governance processes, improved small-scale fishers’ livelihoods, greater climate resilience, and closer alignment between fisheries policies and broader development objectives.