Virtual expert consultation on a monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework for the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication

There has been a long-standing and widespread interest from those working with the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) to monitor, evaluate and learn from their implementation. Where are the guidelines being implemented? And what changes are being brought about for, and through, their implementation?

The SSF Guidelines are broad-ranging, calling for enabling governance and institutional settings, gender and equity commitments, food and nutrition security gains, and actions that enable resilient and productive livelihoods.  A framework to monitor, evaluate and learn from SSF Guideline implementation will need to cover all these angles.

In September, the Equitable Livelihoods Team at FAO, and the Resilient Small-scale Fisheries and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning teams at WorldFish convened 20 SSF experts, who are amongst the most experienced and knowledgeable globally, and represented academia, civil society, social movements, government agencies, and non-government organizations.

• This team and collaborators were not starting from a blank slate.  In preparing a draft Monitoring Evaluating and Learning (MEL) framework for this expert review, special attention had been paid to all work prior – from case studies, reports, workshops, and journal articles that provided guidance and groundwork to develop MEL fit for SSF Guidelines. 
• Over three days of the workshop, the convened group discussed, dissected, critiqued, refined, and reduced more than 400 social, ecological, economic, and governance indicators that had been developed or selected from established MEL frameworks such as those used for the SDGs, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Indicators and the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries Questionnaire.
• The group also examined impact pathways that had been developed to illustrate the causal links between the principles described in the SSF Guidelines and ultimate outcomes such as gender equality, improved nutrition, secure tenure rights, and reduced poverty. 
• The group also debated some of the challenges and traps that such a MEL framework might face. It was clear that appropriate procedural or methodological checks would need to be developed to avoid ‘box ticking’ and to ensure that community and fisher lived experiences of outcomes were appropriately and accurately reflected in the report. Further discussion was called for to design, established, and build capacity for feedback looks to ensure that the learning aspects of MEL were optimized.
• The MEL4SSF framework, indicators, and tools will be refined, adjusted, and tested to launch ready for use by governments, funders, programs, and initiatives in the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.