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Murekezi, P., Martone, E. & Menezes, A. Assessment of the integration of fisheries and aquaculture in policy development – Framework and application in Africa. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 663. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9322en

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Preparation of this document

This document was prepared within the framework of FAO’s Strategic Objective 1 (SO1): Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

The first draft of this document served as a background paper for the Consultative Meeting on “Improving Policy Development in Aquaculture in Support of Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication”, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 3 to 4 December 2018.

As a follow up to the Addis Ababa meeting and the 37th Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) fisheries and aquaculture technical meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, the second draft was prepared and served as a background paper for the Second Consultative Meeting on “Improving Policy Development in Aquaculture in Support of Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication”, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10 to 14 June 2019.

The Consultative Meeting was convened to make recommendations to guide the mainstreaming of fisheries and aquaculture within wider policy frameworks for the formulation and implementation of technical programmes for enhanced food security and nutrition at the country and regional level in Africa.

Abstract

This paper aims at assisting African countries and Regional Economic Communities to improve the integration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector into their policy documents that deal with poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture, and gender mainstreaming. For this purpose, the paper assesses whether the fisheries and aquaculture sector is adequately embedded in policy documents in Africa at both the country and regional level.

The analysis addressed 54 African countries and 8 Regional Economic Communities. As a policy assessment tool, the multi-criteria analysis has been applied to compare two options – “relevance” and “inclusion” – across several performance dimensions. Based on the assessments performed, the extent of “integration” and “discrepancy” of the fishery and aquaculture sector in policy documents has been calculated.

The relevance of fisheries and aquaculture has been assessed through the selection of these three indicators: per capita consumption of fish and fishery products; fish share in animal protein; and fishery exports as a percentage of agricultural exports. Countries have been ranked accordingly. An overview of existing policy documents has been provided. Through a qualitative analysis, the extent of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents aimed at, inter alia, poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, sustainable development and gender mainstreaming has been assessed. Through the combination of the relevance and inclusion results, this study analysed both the extent of the integration of fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents and discrepancy. The proposed approach allowed for identifying countries whose fisheries and aquaculture sector is, to a great extent, included in their policy documents and verifying a corresponding attitude of importance ascribes to this sector in the growth and development agenda. Conversely, some countries, while the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector has been assessed as relevant from the quantitative analysis, have either not adequately included fisheries and aquaculture in their policy documents for growth and development or have omitted their inclusion altogether. These countries highlighted the discrepancy between relevance and inclusion. Therefore, recommendations will be suggested to improve, through advocacy, the inclusion of policy documents on fisheries and aquaculture.

Contents

Preparation of this document

Abstract

Boxes, tables, figures

Acknowledgements

Acronyms and abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

2.1 Relevance of fisheries and aquaculture sector

2.2 Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents

2.3 Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents

2.4 Discrepancy between fishery and aquaculture sector and policy documents

3. An overview of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa

3.1 Fisheries and aquaculture production at country and regional level

3.2 Fisheries and aquaculture consumption at the country and regional level

3.3 Trade of fish and fisheries products

4. Assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the country and regional level

4.1 Assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the country level

4.2 Assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the rec level

5. Assessment of the inclusion and integration of fisheries and aquaculture in the national and regional policy documents

5.1 Overall integration at the country and regional level

5.2 Poverty eradication

5.3 Foreign exchange generators

5.4 Food security

5.5 Ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture

5.6 Gender mainstreaming

6. Assessment of the discrepancy of fisheries and aquaculture in the national and regional policy documents

7. Main conclusions

8. Recommendations

8.1 Recommendations at the country level

8.2 Recommendations at the rec level

References

ANNEXES

1. Trend of capture fisheries production in Africa by REC: 1950–2016

2. Trend of aquaculture production in Africa by REC: 1950–2016

3. Trend of trade of fish and fisheries products in Africa by REC: value, 1976–2016

4. Trend of trade of fish and fisheries products in Africa by REC: volume, 1976–2016

5. Scoring calculations for the assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the country level

6. Scoring calculations for the assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the REC level

7. Performance matrix of the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture at the country level

8. Performance matrix of the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture at the REC level

9. List of countries and membership in RECs included in the analysis of the policy documents

10. List of reviewed policy documents

11. References to fisheries and aquaculture in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF)

12. Discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and policy documents at the country level by theme

13. Discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and policy documents at the REC level by theme

BOXES

1. East African Community’s management of fisheries resources

2. Strategy and policy statements on EAF

3. Example of gender mainstreaming inclusion

TABLES

Chapter 2:

1. List of selected indicators to assess the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at country level

2. Scoring methodology to assess the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture by indicator

3. Methodology to rank the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture

4. Scoring methodology to assess the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in the policy documents by theme

5. Methodology to rank the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture

Chapter 3:

6. Capture fisheries and aquaculture production by country

7. Capture fisheries and aquaculture production by REC

8. Apparent food fish consumption by country, 2013

9. Average apparent food fish consumption by REC, 2013

10. Trade of fish and fishery products, 2016

Chapter 4:

11. Performance matrix of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at country level

12. Performance matrix of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at REC level

Chapter 5:

13. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in the national policy documents

14. Overall integration of fisheries and aquaculture with national policy documents

15. Countries by IRFA and IIFA ranking

16. Overall integration of fisheries and aquaculture with REC policy documents

17. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in poverty eradication at country level

18. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in poverty eradication at country level

19. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in poverty eradication at REC level

20. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in poverty eradication at REC level

21. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in foreign exchange generation at country level

22. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in foreign exchange generation at country level

23. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in foreign exchange generation at REC level

24. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in foreign exchange generation at REC level

25. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in food security at country level

26. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in food security at country level

27. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in food security at REC level

28. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in food security at REC level

29. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in the ecosystem approach at country level

30. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in the ecosystem approach at country level

31. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in the ecosystem approach at REC level

32. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in the ecosystem approach at REC level

33. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in gender mainstreaming at country level

34. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in gender mainstreaming at country level

35. Inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in gender mainstreaming at REC level

36. Integration of fisheries and aquaculture in gender mainstreaming at REC level

Chapter 6:

37. Overall discrepancy between relevance and inclusion at country level

38. Overall discrepancy between relevance and inclusion at REC level

FIGURES

Chapter 3:

1. African capture fisheries and aquaculture production, 1950–2016

2. RECs in Africa

3. Average per capita daily supply of proteins by continent, 2013

4. African trade of fish and fishery products in volume

5. African trade of fish and fishery products in value

Chapter 5:

6. National policy documents dealing with specific themes in relation to fisheries and aquaculture

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the important contribution of all participants of the Consultative Meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Windhoek, Namibia, and Kigali, Rwanda, as well as their sharing of policy documents that enriched this study.

The considerable contribution of Nathanael Hishamunda, Martinus Van der Knaap, and the colleagues from the Fisheries and Aquaculture Information and Statistics Branch (FIAS) is greatly acknowledged for contributing to the preparation of this study.

The authors also recognize the efforts and commitment of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (FIA) management and SP1 for facilitating funding for the completion and publication of this study and the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund for financially supporting the Consultative Meetings.

Acronyms and abbreviations

AU African Union

CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme

CEN-SAD Community of Sahel-Saharan States

COFI Committee on Fisheries

COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

CPF Country Programming Framework

EAA Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture

EAC East African Community

EAF Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries

ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FC apparent per capita consumption of fish and fishery product

FCSCORE score of the apparent per capita consumption of fish and fishery product

FE fishery exports as a percentage of agricultural exports

FESCORE score of the fishery exports as a percentage of agricultural exports

FEG foreign exchange generation

FEGSCORE score of the foreign exchange generation

FOOD food security

FOODSCORE score of the food security

FS fish share in animal protein

FSSCORE score of the fish share in animal protein

GDP gross domestic product

GEN gender mainstreaming

GENSCORE score of the gender mainstreaming

IDFA Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the policy documents

IDFAFEG Foreign Exchange Generation-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IDFAFOOD Food Security-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IDFAGEN Gender Mainstreaming-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IDFAPOV Poverty Eradication-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IDFASUST Sustainable Ecosystem-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Development

IIFA Indicator of Inclusion of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the policy documents

IINFA Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IINFAFEG Foreign Exchange Generation-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IINFAFOOD Food Security-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IINFAGEN Gender Mainstreaming-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IINFAPOV Poverty Eradication-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IINFASUST Sustainable Ecosystem-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture

IMF International Monetary Fund

IRFA Indicator of Relevance of Fisheries and Aquaculture

NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development

NMTPF National Mid-Term Priority Framework

NPCA New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency

POV poverty eradication

POVSCORE score of the poverty eradication

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

REC Regional Economic Community

SADC Southern Africa Development Community

SDG Sustainable Development Goal

SUST sustainable ecosystem

SUSTSCORE score of the sustainable ecosystem

UMA Arab Maghreb Union

UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework

WSFS World Summit on Food Security

1. Introduction

This paper aims at assisting African countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to improve the integration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector into their policy documents that deal with poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture, and gender mainstreaming. It provides practical guidance for fisheries and aquaculture policy-makers and implementers on policy analysis. For this purpose, the paper assesses whether the fisheries and aquaculture sector is adequately embedded in policy documents in Africa at both the country and regional level. Chapter 2 contains a description of the proposed methodology. A general overview is provided in Chapter 3 of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Africa at the country and regional level through the analysis of secondary data. Chapter 4 assesses the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector through the selection of the following three indicators: per capita consumption of fish and fishery products, fish share in animal protein, and fishery exports as a percentage of agricultural exports. Chapters 5 and 6 provide an overview of existing policy documents and evaluate, through a qualitative analysis, the extent of inclusion, integration and discrepancy of fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents aimed at, inter alia, poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, sustainable development and gender mainstreaming. To ensure the quality evaluation per theme, over 300 documents have been reviewed. The regional level has been analysed through the RECs. Chapter 7 summarizes the major findings of the study and the most relevant implications for policy-makers. Recommendations were proposed at the country and regional level for improvements and to fill the gaps outlined in Chapter 8, based on the performed assessment and the outcomes of the Second Consultative Meeting on “Improving Policy Development in Aquaculture in Support of Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication”, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10 to 14 June 2019.

This document is one of a series of FAO fisheries and aquaculture publications dedicated to aquaculture planning and governance. Four FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Papers have already been published on this topic: Aquaculture Planning: Policy Formulation and implementation for sustainable development (Brugère et al., 2010); Policy and Governance in Aquaculture: Lessons Learned and Way Forward (Hishamunda, Ridler and Martone, 2014); Improving Governance in Aquaculture Employment: A Global Assessment (Hishamunda et al., 2014); and Contract Farming and Public-Private Partnerships in Aquaculture: Lessons Learned from East African countries (Murekezi, Menezes and Ridler, 2018). Also published were the FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries addressing the topic of governance and aquaculture development (FAO, 2017a) and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on small-scale fisheries sustainable development (FAO, 2015; FAO, 2018a).

2. Methodology

The purpose of the analysis performed is to assess whether the fisheries and aquaculture sector is adequately embedded into African national and regional policy documents. The analysis addressed 54 African countries and 8 RECs (Annex 9).

A multi-criteria analysis (MCA) has been applied as a policy assessment tool to determine the levels of relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents across several performance dimensions. Based on the assessments that were performed, the extent of the integration of the fishery and aquaculture sector in policy documents and the discrepancy between relevance and inclusion have been calculated.

Based on a set of identified objectives, the MCA allows for determining preferences between options and assessing the achievement of these objectives through measurable performance dimensions. In a standard MCA performance matrix, each row contains an option, each column explains the performance of the options against each performance dimensions, and the entries assess each option performance with reference to each performance dimension (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2009).

It should be pointed out that the methodology that is proposed relies on “the judgement of the decision-making team, in establishing objectives and criteria, in estimating relative importance weights and, to some extent, in judging the contribution of each option to each performance criterion” (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2009). Direct rating judgements have been applied to score the performance dimensions. These important methodological reservations could bias the results. However, according to current information, this work is the first attempt to quantify the degree of commitment of policy documents to the selected themes, functioning as a potential platform for further improvements.

In case the policy documents do not adequately reflect the actual socio-economic importance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the country and regional levels (i.e. relevance), forgone net benefit could occur as a result of lost development opportunities across multiple sectors. While this type of quantitative analysis extends beyond the scope of this work, it could form a part of future research projects. Primarily directed to policy-makers and planning experts in Africa, this study highlights that the fisheries and aquaculture sector is not adequately encompassed in policy documents, a gap which could be filled in the near future.

The proposed methodology adopted two levels of analysis: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative analysis attempted to determine the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the country and regional level (section 2.1). The qualitative analysis assessed the degree of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture into policy documents in the selected themes (section 2.2). By combining the two levels of results, it was possible to assess the extent of integration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in policy documents for each of the analysed themes, at the country and regional level (section 2.3), along with the discrepancy between relevance and inclusion (section 2.4).

2.1 RELEVANCE OF THE FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE SECTOR

According to the proposed methodology, the study first assessed the “relevance” of fisheries and aquaculture at the country and regional level (Chapter 4). As performance dimensions, the following indicators have been considered to quantify the sector’s importance on food security and the economy (Table 1):

• Apparent per capita consumption of fish and fishery products (FC) estimated by dividing the total supply available for human consumption (TFC) by the population total.[1]

• Fish share in animal protein (FS) measures the ratio of the protein supply quantity of foods such as fish, seafood, aquatic animals and others on animal protein supply quantity.

• Fishery exports as a percentage of agricultural exports (FE) measures the ratio of fishery commodities exports on all agricultural product exports.

These indicators were selected as proxies to assess the importance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in terms of contribution to food security and nutrition (FC and FS) and to the country’s economic growth (FE) (Cai, Leung and Hishamunda, 2009; Bondad-Reantaso and Subasinghe, 2013; FAO, 2016). Unfortunately, it was not possible to include the labour dimension since data are available only at the regional level.

The countries were then classified under each performance dimension (i.e. FC, FS and FE) and scored into five categories by comparing data at the country level to the corresponding African average level. The scoring methodology has been proposed for each indicator based on direct rating judgements (Table 2). For example, as shown in Annex 5, FC in Africa was 10.1 kg/per capita in the reference year (2013); this value represents the African average level for FC. Countries without data are given a 0 score, whereas those with less than 5 kg/per capita per year are assigned a low-level score. The countries with 5–10 kg/per capita per year are assigned a medium-level score, while countries with 10–15 kg/per capita per year are given a high-level score. The very high-level score is reserved for those countries having more than 15 kg/per capita per year.

For each country, the Indicator of Relevance of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IRFA) is calculated by summing the scores of each indicator, as shown in Equation 1: the scores of the apparent per capita consumption of fish and fishery product (FCSCORE), the fish share in animal protein (FSSCORE), and the fishery exports as a percentage of agricultural exports (FESCORE). Identical numerical weights have been assigned to all three indicators since this work envisaged no explicit trade-off among performance dimensions.

In terms of relevance of fisheries and aquaculture, the countries were then ranked into five categories according to the methodology proposed in Table 3. If no scores were assigned to all the indicators (i.e. FC, FS and FE), the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture is negligible. The ranking levels have been assigned to the upper end of the IRFA interval as follows: if the scores of FC, FS and FE are not available, then IRFA is negligible; if the scores of FC, FS and FE are all low (i.e. each indicator score equal to 1), then IRFA is low (i.e. upper end of the IRFA interval less than or equal to 3) and so forth, for a maximum of 12.

After the scoring and ranking methodology was applied at the country level to assess the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture, the scoring analysis was carried out at the REC level using the mean score for the selected indicators. It must be stressed that this approach faces inevitable limitations, the main one being the overlapping membership, as many RECs include the same countries, thereby skewing the overall effectiveness of the performed assessment. However, to minimize such limitations, the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture has been assessed for each REC.

2.2 INCLUSION OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE IN POLICY DOCUMENTS

In the second phase, policy documents from each country and REC were reviewed to assess how (and whether) the fisheries and aquaculture sector is incorporated into them. A total of 224 policy documents were reviewed for all African countries and 12 for the RECs. The list of reviewed policy documents is available in Annex 10. It must be stressed that the number and reference period of the reviewed policy documents can bias the assessment since some countries had several documents reviewed (up to 10), while others had no documents reviewed. Therefore, this analysis could be defined as a subjective qualitative assessment.

Given the above-mentioned methodological caveats, the policy documents were used to assess to what extent the policy-makers had valued the fisheries and aquaculture sector in promoting five themes: poverty eradication (POV), foreign exchange generation (FEG), food security (FOOD), sustainable ecosystem (SUST) and gender mainstreaming (GEN).

The proposed methodology assessed the “inclusion” of fisheries and aquaculture in the national and regional policy documents. For this purpose, the documents were first assessed to ascertain the extent to which they made reference to the fishery and aquaculture sector. If this was the case, the analysis focused on how the policy documents proposed to spur growth and development, particularly in treating with the five themes of this study, i.e. POV, FEG, FOOD, SUST and GEN. In analysing the policy documents, the number of documents mentioning fisheries and aquaculture in the context of the five themes was verified. Next, the analysis determined the extent to which the fisheries and aquaculture sector was deemed important enough to be incorporated and used within the strategic framework to realize the objectives under the five themes.

The policy documents, scored under the five themes mentioned above – POV, FEG, FOOD, SUST and GEN – followed the scoring methodology proposed in Table 4. A score was assigned to each country and REC based on the extent to which the inclusion of the fisheries and aquaculture sector was reflected in form and substance in the policy documents that addressed these five themes. In the proposed approach, the assigned score refers to the highest score assigned to one or more documents and not to the overall assessment of all the reviewed documents.

The scoring methodology has been proposed for each indicator based on direct rating judgements (Table 4). The score “negligible” (0) is given to countries and RECs where there is little or no mention of the fisheries and aquaculture sector promoting the themes. In order to assign the score of “very high”, the examined policy documents must include an evaluation and/or assessment of the current situation of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and indicate consideration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector with clear policy proposals for action, e.g. goals, priorities and outcomes.

For each country, the Indicator of Inclusion of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IIFA) in the policy documents is calculated by adding the scores assigned to each theme, as shown in Equation 2: poverty eradication (POVSCORE), foreign exchange generation (FEGSCORE), food security (FOODSCORE), sustainable ecosystem (SUSTSCORE) and gender mainstreaming (GENSCORE). Identical numerical weights have been assigned to all themes.

In terms of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in the policy documents, the countries and RECs were then ranked into five categories according to the methodology proposed in Table 5. If no scores were assigned to all the themes (i.e. POV, FEG, FOOD, SUST and GEN), the inclusion results as negligible. The ranking levels were assigned to the upper end of the IIFA interval as follows: if the scores of POV, FEG, FOOD, SUST and GEN are all negligible, then IIFA is negligible; if the scores of POV, FEG, FOOD, SUST and GEN are all low (i.e. each indicator score equal to 1), then IIFA is low (i.e. upper end of the IIFA interval less than or equal to 5) and so forth, for a maximum rank of 20. A high rank indicates that at least one document of the country or REC fully acknowledged that the fisheries and aquaculture sector contributed to the themes and had robust policy proposals.

2.3 INTEGRATION OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE IN POLICY DOCUMENTS

In the final phase, IRFA with IIFA were compared to indicate the relationship between the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the country and regional level and the inclusion of the sector in the policy documents.

The Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFA) is proposed to evaluate the extent of “integration” of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in policy documents for each of the analysed themes. The methodological approach was to add IIFA to IRFA. As shown in Equation 3, IINFA is calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and IIFA. In the countries where fisheries and aquaculture are important at the country and/or regional level and are highly included into policy documents, the submission is that fisheries and aquaculture may be deemed a “consolidated” sector, as the level of relevance ascribed to the sector is reinforced by their inclusion in policy documents touching and concerning the selected thematic areas.

The lowest rank for IINFA is 0 and the highest rank is 32, given by the sum of the maximum rank of IRFA, which is 12 (Table 3), and the maximum rank of IIFA, which is 20 (Table 5). The integration has been also assessed for each theme by calculating specific theme-based indicators.

The Poverty Eradication-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAPOV) is calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and POVSCORE, as shown in Equation 4.

The Foreign Exchange Generation-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAFEG) is calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and FEGSCORE, as shown in Equation 5.

The Food Security-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAFOOD) is calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and FOODSCORE, as shown in Equation 6.

The Sustainable Ecosystem-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFASUST) is calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and SUSTSCORE, as shown in Equation 7.

The Gender Mainstreaming-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAGEN) is calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and GENSCORE, as shown in Equation 8.

For each theme, the highest a country and/or REC could be ranked in score is 16 and the lowest being 0. The maximum rank for the specific Theme-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture is 16, given by the sum of the maximum rank of IRFA, which is 12 (Table 3), and the maximum score of the Theme-Based Indicator of Inclusion of Fisheries and Aquaculture, which is 4 (Table 4). An overall assessment of all the themes of this study is presented in section 5.1. This global assessment is based on adding the individual scores for each of the themes for each country and REC.

2.4 DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE FISHERY AND AQUACULTURE SECTOR AND POLICY DOCUMENTS

It should be noted that IINFA can provide minimal guidance to policy-makers in terms of formulating future policies because a high rank is conceivable even without much inclusion (IIFA), if the role of the fisheries and aquaculture sector is relevant (IRFA). Within this scenario, deducting IRFA from IIFA could be more informative for policy-makers.

To determine whether there is a relationship between IRFA and IIFA, an estimate is made through the proposed Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFA) in the policy documents, a complementary indicator to IINFA. As shown in Equation 9, IDFA is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to IIFA.

IDFA ranks higher for those countries and RECs where the fisheries and aquaculture sector is considered important, but the inclusion in policy documents is poor. This result suggests a need for more explicit incorporation of the fisheries and aquaculture sector into policies.

The highest value for IDFA is 12, which indicates very high relevance of fisheries and aquaculture (IRFA), but a negligible inclusion of the sector in the reviewed policy documents (IIFA). On the opposite side, the lowest value can also be -20, which indicates the countries where the sector assumes negligible relevance but where there is a very high inclusion.

The discrepancy has also been assessed for each theme by calculating specific theme-based indicators. For each theme, the highest a country and/or REC could be ranked in score is 12 with the lowest being -4. The minimum rank for the specific Theme-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture is -4, given by the maximum score of the Theme-Based Indicator of Inclusion of Fisheries and Aquaculture, which is 4 (Table 4), and the minimum rank of IRFA, which is 0 (Table 3).

The Poverty Eradication-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAPOV). IDFAPOV is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to POVSCORE, as shown in Equation 10.

The Foreign Exchange Generation-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAFEG). IDFAFEG is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to FEGSCORE, as shown in Equation 11.

The Food Security-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAFOOD). IDFAFOOD is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to FOODSCORE, as shown in Equation 12.

The Sustainable Ecosystem-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFASUST) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to SUSTSCORE, as shown in Equation 13.

The Gender Mainstreaming-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAGEN) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to GENSCORE, as shown in Equation 14.

3. An overview of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa

This chapter provides an overview of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Africa at the country and regional level through secondary data. An assessment of African policies concerning the role of fisheries and aquaculture in poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, the ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture and gender mainstreaming has to account for the dynamic nature of these themes, which address environments that are constantly and rapidly changing.

The most recent FAO fisheries and aquaculture statistics at the time of writing refer to 2016; therefore, they do not reflect the current situation perfectly. However, because data are available from 1950, these statistics do provide some useful indications regarding the sector’s dynamics and its likely evolution in the coming years.

In this work, aquaculture and capture fisheries statistics refer to “food fish”, which includes finfishes, crustaceans, molluscs, amphibians, freshwater turtles and other aquatic animals (such as sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sea squirts and edible jellyfish), produced for, or intended for, human consumption.

3.1 FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION AT THE COUNTRY AND REGIONAL LEVEL

In Africa, the trend of capture fisheries production has demonstrated an important and steady growth from 1950 to the late 1960s, when most African countries gained their independence. During this period, the annual production of capture fisheries grew from 1 million to 4 million tonnes. Although production declined slightly during the second half of the 1970s, growth resumed in 1980. Since 2000, capture fisheries production has almost doubled annually (Figure 1).

In 2016, 15 top African countries accounted for 79 percent of the total African capture fisheries production (Table 6). These 15 countries also comprise 56 percent of the African population and account for 68 percent of the African gross domestic product (GDP) at constant 2010 United States dollars (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018d; World Bank, 2018).

The average growth of African capture fisheries production during the period 2007–2016 was 2.6 percent annually (Table 6), a figure slightly higher than the average annual population growth in Africa during this period (2.3 percent) (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018d).

Although the practice of aquaculture has been around since ancient times, especially in Egypt, it was not introduced in Africa until the end of World War II (UNDP/ FAO/ARAC, 1987). It was only in 1995 that the total African aquaculture production exceeded 100 000 tonnes (FAO, 2018e). The average growth of African aquaculture production was 9.2 percent annually during the 2007–2016 period. In 2016, five countries, namely, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, accounted for 94.8 percent of the total African aquaculture production (Table 6). From 1950 to 2016, the ratio of aquaculture on total fish production increased from 0.2 to 17.6 percent (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018f).

The average annual growth of aquaculture production (3 percent) will be higher than capture fisheries (0.6 percent) from 2017 to 2027 (elaboration of the authors based on OECD/FAO, 2018a). The population is forecast to increase by 1.5 billion by 2025 and by 2.1 billion by 2050 (FAO, 2018d). According to the OECD/FAO (2018b), by 2027, per capita fish consumption is expected to decrease in Africa because population growth will be faster than the supply of fish; the increase in both domestic production and fish food imports will not be sufficient to meet the demand (FAO, 2018g). This decline could affect food security and the ability to meet malnutrition targets[2] 2.1 and 2.2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, which seeks to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” (OECD/FAO, 2018b).

Within this context, the next chapters will review and analyse the policies aiming at poverty eradication, ensuring food security, gender mainstreaming and climate change adaptation to assess specifically the extent to which these policies have been incorporated in the capture fisheries and aquaculture sector.

This paper considers the following eight African RECs (Figure 2): the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

The RECs, recognized as the building blocks of the African Economic Community, as set out in the June 1991 Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (hereinafter the Abuja Treaty), have a range of objectives, including trade liberalization, a regional integration process, the formation of a common market and an African Monetary Union (Koroma et al., 2008).

While their Member States might change over time, this does not affect the relevance and objectivity of this study.

The Member States of each of the organizations are the following:

• UMA comprises five Member States: Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

• The 19 Member States of COMESA are Burundi, the Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Eswatini, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

• CEN-SAD has 18 Member States: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, the Gambia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, the Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Togo and Tunisia.

• EAC is composed of five Member States: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.

• ECCAS comprises ten Member States: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe.

• The 15 Member States of ECOWAS are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, GuineaBissau, Liberia, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

• IGAD encompasses six Member States: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

• SADC consists of 15 Member States: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Eswatini, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

One of their key characteristics is that many countries are part of more than one REC.[3] This results in several analytical challenges. First, due to the overlapping of Member States, it is difficult to make an aggregated comparison between them. This could also result in similar policy issues that must be considered. The effect of the overlapping of countries is shown in Table 7. It must be noted that, in 2016, while the total capture fisheries and aquaculture production by African countries amounted to 9 278 499 tonnes and 1 981 897 tonnes, respectively, as detailed in Table 6, the combined production of the RECs alone may mislead interpretation of production due to overlapping memberships, to an apparent output of nearly actual levels for the entirety of African countries. The trend of both capture fisheries and aquaculture production in Africa by REC is presented in Annex 1 and Annex 2, respectively. However, despite this difficulty, the performance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector for each REC has been considered.

3.2 FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE CONSUMPTION AT THE COUNTRY AND REGIONAL LEVEL

In Africa, per capita food fish consumption grew from 4.8 kg in 1961 to 10.1 kg in 2013, compared to an increase from 9.0 kg to 19.8 kg, respectively, at the global level (FAO, 2017b). Moreover, compared to other continents, Africa has the lowest average daily supply of protein (Figure 3). In 2013, fish consumption ranged from a maximum of 56.6 kg per capita in the Seychelles to a low of 0.4 kg per capita in Ethiopia (Table 8). Despite Africa having a lower per capita fish consumption than the world average, it has a higher proportion of fish to total animal protein intake (OECD/FAO, 2018b). In 2013, fish accounted for about 18.4 percent of animal protein consumed by the African population, compared to 16.9 percent of animal protein consumed at the global level. In Ghana, Sao Tome and Principe and Sierra Leone, fish accounted for 50 percent or more of total animal protein intake (FAO, 2017b).

As illustrated in Table 8 and Table 9, fish consumption varies significantly across countries. In Africa, there are 13 countries with an annual per capita fish consumption above the world average of 19.4 kg, as reported by FAO (2017b). Furthermore, 16 other countries consume fish between the world average and half of this average per capita, while the remaining 28 countries consume less than half of the world’s average for fish consumption.

Given the considerations and limitations mentioned earlier when comparing members of RECs, it is essential that their differences in the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture in food consumption be highlighted. The inhabitants of ECOWAS countries have an average fish consumption that is almost four times higher than those of IGAD. For ECCAS, per capita fish consumption is higher than the African average. However, together with EAC, it recorded the lowest average total protein intake of 53.1 grams per capita per day among the African RECs. This is mainly due to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has nearly half of the population of ECCAS (46.3 percent) and a particularly low record of total protein intake (26.7 grams per capita per day) (Table 9).

Likewise, the effect of the low level of total protein intake of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is less visible in the other RECs, based on their total population. For example, the population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo represents 23 percent of SADC and 14 percent of COMESA (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018d). Population composition was affected differently on the overall record of total protein intake in each of the RECs.

3.3 TRADE OF FISH AND FISHERIES PRODUCTS

Africa is a net importer of fisheries and aquaculture products by volume.[4] From 1976 to 2016, imports exceeded exports by an average of more than 800 000 tonnes; the highest gap was recorded in 2011 with 2.2 million tonnes (Figure 4).

However, when considering trade of fish and fisheries products in terms of value, Africa has been a net exporter of fisheries and aquaculture products since 1985, with the exception of 2011. The highest surplus was recorded in 2003 with an amount of more than USD 2 billion (Figure 5). In recent times, the average annual growth rate of imports in value terms has dropped substantially because of reduced economic growth in many African countries (FAO, 2018g).

Africa exports relatively high-value fish and fish products primarily to developed country markets, particularly Europe, and imports relatively low-value fish and fishery products, mainly cheaper, smaller pelagic species, which represent an important source of dietary diversification (FAO, 2018g).

The increase in imports by volume has been recorded since 1976, with an average annual growth rate of 4.3 percent from 1976 to 2016; while exports have grown to a minor extent, they recorded an average annual growth rate of 5.1 percent during the same time frame (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018c).

In value terms, a negative balance of trade was recorded for 38 African countries in 2016 (Table 10). From 1976 to 2016, imports and exports increased with an average annual growth rate of 6.6 and 7.4 percent, respectively. The five countries with the highest negative balance of trade are Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018c). These five countries account for 29.2 percent of the African population. They have a relatively high per capita fish consumption, ranging from 13.3 kg in Nigeria to 26.3 kg in Ghana, and have a high percentage of fish in their total animal protein intake, ranging from 24 percent in Egypt to 50 percent in Ghana[5] (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2017b). Egypt and Nigeria are among the countries in Africa with the largest populations, together comprising 23 percent of the total population. They are also among the biggest producers of capture fisheries and aquaculture together with Morocco, with a particularly high aquaculture production (section 3.1). Information on trade of fish and fishery products in Africa by REC in value and volume is available in Annex 3 and Annex 4, respectively.

4. Assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the country and regional level

Based on the proposed methodology in Chapter 2, the next sections analyse the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the country and regional level.

4.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE RELEVANCE OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE AT THE COUNTRY LEVEL

This section assesses the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the country level. The scoring and ranking results are presented in a performance matrix (Table 11), in which each row refers to an African country and each column describes the performance of the countries against each performance dimension. The Indicator of Relevance of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IRFA) is calculated by summing the scores of FC, FS and FE for a maximum rank of 12 (full rank). A high rank suggests that, compared to the African average, the fisheries and aquaculture sector is relevant in the country. According to the ranking methodology proposed in Table 3, nine countries had a “very high” rank level in terms of relevance, of which three countries reached the full rank, namely, Senegal, Seychelles and Sierra Leone. The majority, 24 African countries, were ranked with a “high” level. A “medium” rank resulted for eight countries, while a “low” rank was recorded for 13 countries. The scoring calculations are detailed in Annex 5.

4.2 ASSESSMENT OF THE RELEVANCE OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE AT THE REC LEVEL

This section assesses the importance and relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the regional level in terms of RECs. With regard to relevance of fisheries and aquaculture, RECs were then ranked into five categories according to the methodology proposed in Table 3. The scoring and ranking results at the REC level are presented in Table 12. The RECs reporting a “very high” rank were ECCAS, ECOWAS and SADC, while the RECs ranking with a “high” level were CENSAD, COMESA and UMA. A “medium” rank was detected for EAC and a “low” rank for IGAD. The scoring calculations are presented in Annex 6. As pointed out in section 2.1, the scoring analysis at the REC level was carried out by using the mean score for the selected indicators.

5. Assessment of the inclusion and integration of fisheries and aquaculture in the national and regional policy documents

The purpose of the analysis performed is to assess whether the fisheries and aquaculture sector is adequately embedded into national and regional policy documents addressing the outlined themes of poverty eradication, foreign exchange generation, food security, sustainable ecosystem and gender mainstreaming. An overview of the contents is also provided.

Several policy documents addressing the five major themes of this analysis (i.e. poverty eradication, foreign exchange generation, food security, sustainable ecosystem and gender mainstreaming) were carefully reviewed to determine the extent to which these policy documents incorporate the fisheries and aquaculture sector to meet the envisaged growth and development objectives. Sector-specific policy documents have been included in the assessment.

In 2016, the search was performed electronically through FAOLEX[6] and Google by first using theme-specific keywords: poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, nutrition, ecosystem approach and gender; and then using sector-specific keywords: agriculture, capture fisheries and aquaculture. The search covered the policy documents of 54 African countries and 8 RECs produced during the period 2004–2016. Therefore, results may not reflect the current situation. The list was then integrated with the policy documents provided by the participants of the first Consultative Meeting on “Improving Policy Development in Aquaculture in Support of Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication”, held in Addis, Ethiopia, from 3 to 4 December 2018, and the 37th SADC Fisheries and Aquaculture Meeting in Windhoek, Namibia.

The list of countries and RECs included in the assessment is provided in Annex 9. In total, 224 national policy documents were examined, with most of them centred around the thematic areas of poverty eradication and food security. However, in general, they do not adequately provide for the themes of gender mainstreaming and the ecosystem approach (Figure 6).

The assessment of the inclusion and integration is based on the national and regional policy listed in Annex 10.

5.1 OVERALL INTEGRATION AT THE COUNTRY AND REGIONAL LEVEL

The ranking results in terms of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in the national policy documents are presented in Table 13. The next sections provide a breakdown of this analysis under each theme of the study. The countries were ranked by summing the scores given under each of the five themes. In some cases, e.g. Uganda, the documents referred to several themes. In other cases, e.g. Egypt, despite having four documents included in the analysis, only three of them referred to fisheries and/or aquaculture and none related to a specific thematic area. Five countries did not refer to fisheries and/or aquaculture in any of the documents reviewed, nor could fisheries and/or aquaculture policies be found. In addition, the general ranking shows no specific link with the geographical location of the African countries. The 16 countries scoring an IIFA of 6 points or more originate from all parts of Africa. According to the performed qualitative assessment, South Africa reported a “very high” rank; Morocco and Uganda reported a “high” rank in terms of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in their policy documents. A “medium” rank resulted for 15 countries. The majority, 30 countries, were ranked with a “low” level. A “negligible” rank was detected for 6 countries.

The performance matrix of the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture at the country level detailed by theme is shown in Annex 7.

Table 14 presents the results of the performed assessment of the overall integration of fisheries and aquaculture with national policy documents. In general, for most of the 54 African countries assessed, there is a low connection between the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the national level and the inclusion of the sector within national policies across the themes surveyed. In countries where fisheries and/or aquaculture resulted relevant, and which also presented a high level of inclusion into policy documents, it is submitted that fisheries and/or aquaculture is a “consolidated” sector. This is particularly true in the case of Morocco, Uganda, Senegal and South Africa. These countries had reported high values of integration (IINFA between 20 and 23), while countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, the Niger, Guinea-Bissau and Zimbabwe had low values of integration, i.e. an IINFA between 3 and 5. There are some exceptions, e.g. in Cameroon and Sao Tome and Principe, although the relevance of fisheries and/or aquaculture ranked “high”, the inclusion into policy documents resulted “low” (Table 15).

Congo ranked “high” in terms of relevance, while none of documents afforded the necessary incidental inclusion or even considered/mentioned the fisheries and aquaculture sector; two policy documents were found to be available in relation to the themes surveyed, and none of them made any reference to the fisheries and aquaculture sector, either in form or substance. The same finding applies to Egypt, where the relevance indicator ranked “high”, but had a surprisingly “negligible” inclusion across all the thematic areas in national policies.

In some countries, fisheries and aquaculture are not particularly important in terms of IRFA, but their national policies greatly included the studied themes, e.g. Djibouti ranked a “low” relevance but “medium” inclusion.

Even if there is a general connection between high levels of relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and its inclusion into national policy documents, and particularly, policies that adequately treat the thematic areas of this analysis, two exceptions to this trend are evident. First, there are instances of high relevance of fisheries and aquaculture, yet low or no specific inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture into policy documents. Conversely, while some countries reflect low relevance of fisheries and aquaculture, they yield high degrees of incorporation into policy documents.

Despite reporting high values of integration of fisheries and aquaculture in national policy documents (Table 14), countries could still improve their policies regarding food security, poverty eradication, gender mainstreaming, generation of foreign exchange and the ecosystem approach. Perhaps, one area of improvement is capacity building through a public education campaign to raise awareness on the importance and potential of fisheries and aquaculture to contribute to social and economic development across the main thematic areas. In this scenario, priority could be given, for example, to the 42 countries that have reported values less than half of the highest possible IINFA. In particular, the highest priority could be given to the 12 countries with total integration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector scoring lower than 25 percent of the highest possible IINFA, namely, Algeria, Botswana, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, the Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. In these countries, advocacy efforts should be geared towards the development of fisheries and aquaculture in order to contribute to each of the five thematic areas.

For the eight RECs, 10 out of the 12 regional policy documents reviewed mentioned the fisheries and aquaculture sector. In the case of CEN-SAD and UMA, at the time of the analysis, no policy documents were available to consult. One basic policy document treating with fisheries was found for COMESA and ECOWAS. For example, the analysis of the ECOWAS Environmental Policy revealed several commendable references and provisions for fisheries and aquaculture. In detail, it provides:

2.1. To improve sustainable management of natural resources based on […] improve knowledge about the water bodies and conservation of continental fisheries and fish farming […].

2.4. Sustainable management of coastal, island and marine ecosystems […] Insure sustainable practice of marine fishing protection and monitoring of shared marine environment and ichthyological resources robbing fight (ECOWAS, 2008).

The performance matrix of the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture at the REC level is presented in Annex 8. Table 16 presents the results of the performed assessment of the overall integration of fisheries and aquaculture with REC policy documents.

In relation to the integration of fisheries and aquaculture with the REC policy documents, the analysis for each theme shows that few RECs have included fisheries and/or aquaculture in policies addressing food security, poverty eradication, gender mainstreaming, generation of foreign exchange and the ecosystem approach (Table 16). In instances, where the policy documents included these themes, they obtained, at best, a low score. It is therefore safe to conclude that the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture into policy documents shows a very low connection with the relevance of the sector. However, Table 16 indicates that, despite RECs having generally “low” inclusion levels, the SADC, EAC and ECCAS have several of the thematic areas included in their policies. The SADC recorded the highest level of integration.

The ECOWAS, COMESA, CEN-SAD, IGAD and UMA are the RECs that could require the greatest efforts to improve or to implement policies treating with and supportive of the themes.

5.2 POVERTY ERADICATION

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by country

Sustainable Development Goal 1 “End poverty in all its forms everywhere” highlights how poverty encompasses several dimensions: the lack of access to income, social protection, basic services and land, along with resilience to shocks and disasters (United Nations General Assembly, 2015). The contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to poverty eradication is perhaps the most acknowledged dimension in the revised policy documents. Fisheries and aquaculture tend to be included or fused in the overall assessment of the agriculture sector. The latter is usually broadly defined as including agriculture, livestock, poultry, forestry and fisheries. Most commonly, the assessments include the contribution of fisheries to employment generation, either directly or indirectly. Another indicator usually presented to assess the contribution of fisheries is the share of the sector in the national GDP.

The extent of inclusion of fishery in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) examined is modest. PRSPs are available in 14 of the 54 African countries included in this study. Moreover, reference to fisheries and aquaculture occurs in 11 of the 14 PRSPs.[7] Fisheries and aquaculture are usually included in the assessment of the main economic sectors, but their potential to contribute to poverty eradication is fused within other components of the agricultural sector. It is interesting to note that the countries that scored the highest in this dimension had specifically provided for the poverty eradication theme in their national fisheries and aquaculture plans. In reference to utilizing and promoting aquaculture, the approach taken is usually geared at improving household livelihoods by preventing exploitation of wild fish stocks, and to improve and sustain them. In addition, the strategic plans are usually stated so as to market fishery products better. Regrettably, in general, further actions to incorporate this sector in growth and development plans to address the selected thematic areas are not included in the action plans. Likewise, aquaculture is only acknowledged as a complementary source of income and a subsistence activity for small-scale farmers.

One of the key challenges in many countries, such as Eswatini, is that aquaculture has, so far, been limited to small-scale subsistence farming (Breuil and Grima, 2014). To bridge this socio-economic gap and spur sustainable development, national strategic documents and plans could boost these activities in order to reach the commercial level, which would require, among other things, an improvement in marketing conditions and infrastructure for trading.

The analytical findings on the policy documents regarding the extent of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture are presented in Table 17. The second column refers to the number of documents reviewed, which addressed fishery and/or aquaculture in relation to poverty eradication. The scores assigned upon assessing the extent of inclusion of fisheries and/or aquaculture in relation to this theme are included in the third column (POVSCORE). Importantly, the assigned score refers to the highest score assigned to one or more documents and not to the overall assessment of all the reviewed literature.

The countries of Uganda, Morocco, South Africa and Eswatini were found to have a high inclusion of fisheries in poverty eradication documents. However, more interestingly, is the fact that the source of the high scoring is different for these countries. Morocco and Uganda presented several references in their policies related to the impact of fisheries on employment and economic activity. Likewise, its national fisheries and aquaculture policies were also comprehensive. Eswatini, however, scored high given the extent of inclusion in the recently implemented national fisheries (and aquaculture) policy. This represents an improvement on the sparse reference made to fisheries across few of the thematic areas in a prior poverty reduction strategy and action plan (the Kingdom of Eswatini, 2005). Although these countries scored the highest, neither scored “very high” in the assessment. Notably, also, the development of the sector is reflected in the expected outcomes of the policies to be implemented. Therefore, there is scope for improvement and greater integration of this sector in the countries. Strategic plans should specifically make fisheries and aquaculture a part of their outcomes in their development programmes.

In Uganda, for example, the development of fisheries is conceived as a long-term activity, which contributes to several aspects of national development. Because of this vision and ascribed high importance, the fisheries/aquaculture sector has assumed satisfactory integration across the thematic areas. Fish is listed among the selected commodities to develop in the framework of the National Development Plan (Uganda National Planning Authority, 2010). Furthermore, according to the Development Strategy and Investment Plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, the benefits of the intervention in the fisheries sector are given by the fact that (MAIFF, 2010):

• About 1.5 million people have been depending on the sector for their welfare.

• Better nutrition as fish provides high-quality proteins.

• Employment is increased along the fish value chain.

By way of comparison, the Eswatini approach appears to be more short-term and immediate, yet effective. The approach is aimed at “jump-starting” the aquaculture sector and attracting foreign investment. To illustrate, Eswatini National Strategic Policy and National Food Security Policy provide:

[…] Encouraging subsistence and small-scale commercial farmers to undertake integrated fish and agrarian farming ventures not only allows farmers to increase their levels of food security and income sources, but also reduces dependence on government and donors. […] The commercialization of fish farming in … [Eswatini] is an important objective of this Policy and of the National Food Security Policy. Small-scale commercial fish farming seeks to reduce the dependence of fish farmers on the Swazi state. […] Commercial fish farming is intended to create important job opportunities, reduce rural unemployment and poverty and attract much-needed commercial and foreign investment in … [Eswatini]’s agricultural sector (the Kingdom of Eswatini and the European Union, 2011).

According to the performed assessment, this policy reflects high inclusion of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in its development.

The countries with a low POVSCORE tend to present an estimation of the contribution of fisheries and/or aquaculture to poverty eradication by either employment generation or participation in overall economic activity, but they provide no further analysis on relevance of the sector across the thematic area and development.

Table 18 shows the scores for the Poverty Eradication-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAPOV), calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and POVSCORE, as shown in Equation 4.

The highest level of integration between the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture (IRFA) and their inclusion into policy documents in relation to poverty eradication (POVSCORE) is reflected in Morocco and Senegal (Table 18), two countries from different regions. Countries that reported high scores in terms of relevance, such as Seychelles and Sierra Leone, resulted with low scores on the inclusion side. Interestingly, Uganda showed atypical results compared to other landlocked countries; this is likely attributable to the importance of Lake Victoria fisheries.

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by the REC

Regional documents present an overall low inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in relation to poverty eradication. In most African countries, development programmes are structured on the basis of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), established by the African Union as part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in 2003. The CAADP aims to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty by developing agriculture through the improvement of coordination of regional and national stakeholders. The work and coordination of key players are set by the Compacts[8] and corresponding Investment Plans signed for each country and REC. To illustrate the increasing importance of fisheries and aquaculture as neatly and succinctly put by NEPAD:

[…] markets for artisanal fishery products are also extremely important in the African continent for both coastal communities, whose livelihood strategies are heavily dependent on fisheries, and inland populations, for which fish represents usually a cheap source of protein and nutrition compared to other sources (NEPAD, 2003).

In general, fisheries and aquaculture tend to be fused with or treated as a part of other sectors, under a broad definition of agriculture, or in a joint reference to agriculture, livestock and fisheries. Unfortunately, and in spite of a policy framework and reform strategy for fisheries and aquaculture in Africa (AUC-NEPAD, 2014), SADC is the only REC with a dedicated policy document on fisheries, based on the analysis. For this REC, the protocol on fisheries emphasizes “the important role of fisheries in the social and economic well-being and livelihood of the people of the Region, notably in ensuring food security and the alleviation of poverty with the ultimate objective of its eradication” (SADC, 2006). The objectives of the protocol include, inter alia, “to generate economic opportunities for nationals in the Region and to alleviate poverty with the ultimate objective of its eradication” (SADC, 2006).

However, other RECs, such as the EAC, although they may not have elaborated a specific policy document on fisheries, have taken commendable steps in the policy positions they have outlined regarding fisheries and aquaculture. By illustration, Article 16 of the EAC’s protocol on the environment and natural resources management is a regional fisheries policy statement (Box 1). Although brief, it is a notable step towards greater inclusion and integration. Member States should therefore ensure that, as far as practicable, they are guided in their national work plans towards this development effort.

Twenty-five African countries are members of two RECs and eight countries are members of three RECs. It has not gone unnoticed that this double and triple membership of RECs by many countries has implications for the presentation of data. This reality has the effect of skewing the data and, unavoidably, to affect any real determination of the extent of inclusion. To minimize this limitation in analysis of data, this paper has adopted the approach of highlighting any anomalies with these Member States.

Looking at the overall results for the RECs, given the very low inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in regional policies for the poverty eradication theme (Table 19), the consolidation of the fisheries and aquaculture sector is also low (Table 20). This is in the context where the aggregated result is mainly given by the relevance of the sector at a regional level.

5.3 FOREIGN EXCHANGE GENERATORS

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by country

The fisheries and aquaculture sector was also analysed in relation to its potential to generate foreign exchange through sales to foreign markets. Foreign exchange earnings generated by exports of fisheries and aquaculture products can contribute to national economic growth and development (FAO, 2005a; Kurien, 2005; Cai, Leung and Hishamunda, 2009).

The results of the review and assessment of fisheries in relation to the potential to generate foreign exchange are presented in Table 21. Uganda is at the top of the list, as fishery products are listed as the second source of foreign exchange. In so doing, the sector of fisheries is highlighted as being a very relevant activity in terms of employment generation along the value chain. Also, the increase of volume and value of exports is listed among the key elements of the national fisheries policy. In addition, the self-sufficiency in fishery products is included as part of the fisheries sector policy. The following findings of FAO and excerpts from strategy/policy papers briefly highlight this commendable extent of integration:

Fish exports are the second largest export earner for Uganda. […] The average growth rate in fish exports is an impressive 48 per cent per year. The growth potential is considered high because of the forward and backward linkages and other multiplier effects over other sectors (Uganda National Planning Authority, 2010).

[…] self-sufficiency in fish and fish products, increased trade in fish and fish products within the country and a sustainable basket of exports of fish, fish products and other aquatic products with foreign exchange earning exceeding USD 300 million per annum (National Fisheries Policy, 2004).

Another group of countries is assessed at a “medium” level of inclusion of fisheries in foreign exchange generation. In these countries, rather than assessing the relevance of the fisheries sector’s exports as generator of foreign currencies, the report highlights the potential of this activity. For example, it provides:

Efforts will be made to induce domestic investors to enter into partnerships with foreign investors aimed at developing a sector that is open to export markets (IMF, 2006).

Likewise, in Djibouti, one of the objectives of the Country Strategy Paper regarding the fisheries sector is:

[…] to increase exports by bringing infrastructure up to international standards […]. The rehabilitation of the fishing port and its standardization should result in the export on average of 2 000 tons of high value-added fish, generating 8 to 10 million US dollars in additional foreign exchange (IMF, 2004).

The exception to this general assessment is Mozambique, where the fisheries sector contributed 3 percent to GDP and 8 percent to foreign exchange (FAO, 2012).

Table 22 shows the scores for the Foreign Exchange Generation-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAFEG), calculated by adding the rank for IRFA and FEGSCORE, as shown in Equation 5.

Morocco, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Senegal are among the countries with the highest level of integration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector into national policies (Table 22). These countries achieved a medium or low level of inclusion coupled with a very high level of relevance at the national level. It is interesting to note that Uganda, despite having a lower relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at a national level compared to the above-mentioned countries, reported a high value in terms of inclusion.

South Africa, despite reporting a medium rank in terms of relevance (IRFA), had a high score of inclusion. A possible rationale for this finding is that the sector’s potential to generate foreign exchange, to improve its integration to contribute to national fisheries and aquaculture goals as reported in its policy documents, and to propel development in other thematic areas is recognized in the country. Therefore, a policy and/or strategic document could be drafted and implemented to clearly articulate this importance.

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by RECs

The results for the RECs are similar to those outlined for poverty eradication. The extent of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture into policies to generate foreign exchange is low to negligible (Table 23). The aggregated results are mainly given by the relevance of the sector at the REC level (Table 24).

5.4 FOOD SECURITY

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by country

As reported in the 2009 Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security (WSFS): “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2009).

According to the WSFS definition (FAO, 2009), the four dimensions of food security are availability, access, utilization and stability:

• Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.

• Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate food for a nutritious diet (economic access); and being able to procure food products (physical access).

• Food utilization: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

• Food stability: food supply is stable, markets are supplied throughout the year and households have enough income for steady food consumption.

Fish plays various roles in national food security in the African countries. In some countries, fish is the main source of animal protein, while in others its contribution is not significant. Although the fisheries sector does not always enjoy the primacy of importance it warrants, food insecurity is generally an issue of concern throughout Africa. Consequently, fisheries are assessed as a key sector for addressing food insecurity. In many countries, the situation is similar to the aforementioned findings concerning income and foreign exchange generation; that is, fisheries are included in the agricultural sector, and consequently, the contribution of fish to food security is not only subsumed and undetectable, but often times, is lost among the other food products.

The documents reviewed indicate that fisheries and/or aquaculture contribute to food security directly and indirectly. First, the sector contributes directly to food security by generating food resources for the dietary requirements of the population. In some countries, fish is the main source of animal protein; e.g. in 2013, fishery products represented 64.4 percent of total animal protein intake in Sierra Leone and 53.3 percent in Sao Tome and Principe (Table 8). Conversely, countries such as Ethiopia (1.6 percent), Eritrea (2.8 percent) and Lesotho (2.8 percent) registered a very low contribution (Table 8). It is also interesting to note that, despite fisheries and/or aquaculture playing a usual less significant role in landlocked countries than in coastal nations, there are exceptions, such is the case of Uganda (30.1 percent). This finding indicates that there are other factors besides geographical location which influence the role of fisheries in national food security. These factors include, viz., the mere closeness to aquatic resources does not guarantee high consumption of fishery products. So too, while limited aquatic resources can pose a limit, it does not necessarily restrict fish consumption. It is undeniable that consumption habits and traditions also play an important role in the reliance on fishery products for food.

The fisheries and aquaculture sector also contributes indirectly to food security through income generation for households, which allows for purchasing other food items to complement the usual diet. As previously mentioned, at a national level, this sector could contribute by generating foreign exchange revenues from exports, and then enabling the purchasing of food, which could be insufficiently produced or not produced locally. However, the realization of this potential will depend heavily on the capacity and approach of exporting firms and industries and a facilitating regulatory framework and environment.

Despite being one of the countries where fish plays a minor role in national food security (Table 11), Eritrea reported the highest score in terms of the FOODSCORE (Table 25), which to a great extent includes fisheries and/or aquaculture in food-security-related policies. The Food Security Strategy gives special focus to the fisheries sector, assessing its potential to increase its contribution to food security given the state of resources, which are considered underexploited. The document, which presents an assessment of the contribution of fisheries to income generation, articulates the development of the sector in the enhancement of exports and acknowledges the role of artisanal fisheries for food security. It provides, inter alia:

The fisheries of Eritrea are unique in the world today, in that they are not generally overcapitalized or over exploited. While many of the fishing areas in the world have been depleted and are yielding declining returns, Eritrean fisheries resources are still relatively healthy and in some cases underexploited. Therefore, Eritrea finds itself in a unique position of managing and exploiting a relatively young and healthy resource with the potential to offer great prospects for economic growth, meeting national food security objectives and earning foreign exchange for the country. […] The key element of the strategy is to improve the incomes of coastal villagers, which is a pre-requisite for enhancing their food security by strengthening their cooperative associations to enhance their productivity. Specific measures involve training fishermen, building cooperative storage, promoting domestic fish dietary intake, processing and marketing by the small fishermen (Government of the State of Eritrea, 2004).

The contextual circumstances and reasons for the individual countries scoring “high” for extent of inclusion vary. In some countries such as the Comoros and Mauritius, fisheries already have a leading role in national food security, and this is reflected in the policy papers. Other countries, however, such as Eswatini and South Sudan, despite not having a strong fisheries sector, have included the development of fish production, mainly through the promotion of aquaculture, to alleviate food insecurity.

Conversely, in the case of the countries where the extent of inclusion of fisheries and/or aquaculture is assessed at a “medium” level, there is some recognition of the contribution of fish to household food security. In these countries, some indicators are usually present, but gaps exist mainly in the design of strategies, action plans and setting of priorities. This is so, as too often the fisheries sector is not adequately addressed in these strategies documents. In other instances, while the development of aquaculture or artisanal fisheries is listed or mentioned as a priority, that priority listing does not propel any action or, if any, the same is woefully lacking towards realizing this objective.

Table 26 shows the scores for the Food Security-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAFOOD) and calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and FOODSCORE, as shown in Equation 6.

When assessing the extent of integration of fisheries and aquaculture in national food security, the Comoros remains in the top position, while other countries gain momentum, based on their improved integration of fisheries and aquaculture policies, e.g. Angola and Nigeria (Table 26). Although Djibouti, Burundi, South Sudan, Sudan and Eswatini presented a “high” score of inclusion (FOODSCORE), because of a lower importance of the sector at a national level (IRFA), they reported low integration values (IINFAFOOD). However, they are contextually different and the reasons for such findings are similarly varied. The anomalous situation of Eritrea cannot be overlooked; having obtained the highest score in terms of inclusion, but due to “medium” rank in terms of relevance of the sector at a national level, the integration is low. One such remedial approach could be to first fully acknowledge the relevance and potential of fisheries to contribute to national food security and, thereafter, to integrate the sector through holistic policies. The upshot is that the data generally indicate that there have been some advances made in the implementation of actions in this field.

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by REC

The situation in the RECs is presented in Table 27. The SADC achieves the highest score due to the Protocol on Fisheries (SADC, 2006) and the inclusion of food security as the first objective of the Protocol. Some commendation is in order due to the inclusion of fisheries as part of the regional strategic plan (SADC, 2001) in terms of increasing food availability. In accordance with this strategy, the revitalization of a regional aquaculture development programme is presented as one of the goals. It provides:

For the purpose of promoting aquaculture, the Sector initiated an Aquaculture for Local Community (ALCOM) Programme, which was phased out. It is desirable to revive and promote this programme throughout the region since it targets local and poor communities in rural areas, and directly addresses food security concerns as well as income generation. As regards trade, the latest revenue figures from fish are estimated at 3.0 billion US dollars per year. This figure can easily be increased if the Sector can adopt a strategy to improve the quality of fish through appropriate handling, processing and conservation of the catch (SADC, 2001).

At national levels, the food security policies of the IGAD countries make significant references to fisheries and have, to some extent, integrated the sector into the thematic areas. However, there is a need to have a clear, comprehensive and solid regional perspective promulgated and programmes developed, accordingly, and supported to integrate and incorporate more fisheries in the fight to ensure food security. The conference paper “Agricultural and Food Security Challenges for the IGAD Region” presented the fisheries sector as one of the areas covered by the national programmes (Mochoge and Zziwa, 2004). Notwithstanding enumerating some of the actions foreseen at the national level, there is no inclusion of the topic at the regional level.

The EAC (2011) Food Security Action Plan mentioned the promotion of fish farming and a better exploitation of fishery resources among the activities to increase food availability, but no further assessment or lines of action are included. Notably, however, the EAC has also taken other strong policy positions on fisheries. To this end, Article 16 of the EAC’s Protocol on environment and natural resources management (EAC, 2006a) is a succinct yet powerful policy position taken regionally on fisheries (Box 1). It is hoped that such regional fisheries policy statement, sooner than later, will ignite efforts to draft specific policy papers and make commitments and strategic plans that are dedicated towards greater inclusion of fisheries in development.

As for ECCAS, the importance of the contribution of fisheries for food security, income generation, nutrition, and foreign exchange revenues is acknowledged among the fundamental objectives of the REC. In fact, a survey of the potential of the fisheries sector is listed as part of the strategic plan with a 2015 horizon (ECCAS, 2014). However, no further actions are indicated in the document.

Again, it can be seen that, among the RECs, fisheries tend to be diluted in a more general overview of the agricultural sector.

In the aggregated analysis (Table 28), the most interesting result is in the case of the SADC. With a medium inclusion of fisheries and/or aquaculture in food security (FOODSCORE) and a very high relevance of the sector (IRFA), SADC scored the highest integration of the fisheries and aquaculture sector into food security (IINFAFOOD) among the RECs.

5.5 ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO FISHERIES AND TO AQUACULTURE

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by country

The ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) “strives to balance diverse societal objectives, by taking account of the knowledge and uncertainties of biotic, abiotic and human components of ecosystems and their interactions and applying an integrated approach to fisheries within ecologically meaningful boundaries” (FAO Fisheries Department, 2003). An ecosystem approach to aquaculture (EAA) “is a strategy for the integration of the activity within the wider ecosystem such that it promotes sustainable development, equity and resilience of interlinked social-ecological systems” (FAO, 2010). The EAF/EAA “is a way of managing fisheries and aquaculture that balances the different objectives of society (e.g. ecological and economic objectives), by applying an integrated approach across geographical areas that reflect natural ecosystems” (Staples and Funge-Smith, 2009).

The principles pertaining to EAF/EAA have been included in a number of international agreements and conference documents, from the World Conference on the Human Environment of 1972 to the World Summit on Sustainable Development of 2002 (FAO Fisheries Department, 2003).

In 2005, the twenty-sixth session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) indicated the need for a greater understanding on how the ecosystem approach should be applied in practice (FAO, 2005b). The need for further work to effectively implement the EAF/EAA was further underlined at the thirtieth session of COFI (FAO, 2013).

This practical understanding is therefore very recent and perhaps explains why 30 out of the 54 surveyed African countries made no mention of the ecosystem approach in relation to fisheries and aquaculture in their policies (Table 29). Therefore, in “form”, there is no inclusion, but “substantively”, there is an appreciation, albeit, not sufficient, of this approach in policies. Very few references to EAF/EAA appear in the policies reviewed (Table 29). The focus is generally on productive conditions and, when available, an assessment on the state of resources. When a more holistic perspective is included, it is usually associated with the need to articulate activities related to water resources. No specific policy on the ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture was found. The relation is presented either by the deterioration of water quality that affects aquaculture and fisheries, and facilitates the expansion of weeds, or by the competition for water supplies and spaces between aquaculture, livestock and irrigation.

In taking a “substantive” approach in analysing, however, it is found that, in the countries that scored “low” in the assessment of the integration of the ecosystem approach in policies, there is still some general appreciation of its importance through reference to environmental issues. It is generally the case, where, instead of dealing with the fisheries and aquaculture sector as an isolated productive activity, its concerns are fused with the usual environmental issues. However, there are no further detailed dimensions to this approach. The following are examples of this type of references.

• “Given the limited opportunities for economic diversification, the country’s future growth will continue to depend on the expansion of tourism and fisheries, which are inextricably linked to the quality of the natural and physical environment” (African Development Bank, 2011).

• “Developing integrated water resources management systems for agricultural production (crops, livestock and aquaculture and power generation” is one of the proposed areas for improvement in the Post Compact Road Map for the United Republic of Tanzania (SADC et al., 2010).

Countries that scored better in the extent of inclusion of the ecosystem approach, in some cases, explicitly made reference to the importance of the implementation of EAF/EAA, e.g. Eswatini. Others have components in their policies that go beyond the expansion of production and somehow articulate the development of fisheries and aquaculture with the environmental preservation and the improvement in the management of the impact on and by the environment. Strategy and policy statements for three countries are presented in Box 2.

The fact that EAF/EAA is relatively a new concept can be one of the factors that resulted in the low extent of inclusion in national policies. However, as detailed above, the fisheries and aquaculture sector is indeed recognized, generally when concerns for the environment and other scarce resources are being provided for in policies. In the premises, there are noticeable gaps and a need for specific development policies being created, which utilize EAF/EAA.

Table 30 shows the scores for the Sustainable Ecosystem-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFASUST), calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and SUSTSCORE, as shown in Equation 7.

The extent or level of integration of the ecosystem approach among countries to fisheries and aquaculture is generally not very high for many countries given the poor inclusion at the policy level (Table 30). In enumerating some findings, Morocco and Senegal showed the best performance for both indicators among the studied countries; although Senegal has one of the highest level in terms of integration of fisheries and aquaculture (IINFASUST), the inclusion indicator scored medium (SUSTSCORE). Seychelles ranked “high” relevance, and, given its slightly lower inclusion at the policy level, is ranked after Morocco and Senegal. Other countries such as Kenya and Eswatini also obtained medium scores in terms of inclusion, but due to lesser relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector (IRFA), they ranked at a lower level in terms of integration.

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by REC

The extent of inclusion of EAF/EAA at the regional level is even less significant. According to the performed assessment, reference is made only in one document (Table 31). This is not surprising, given the infrequent articulation of the approach in national policies as outlined earlier. Likewise, in instances where there is reference to such an approach in policy documents dealing with fisheries and aquaculture, it is too often not given primacy as a thematic objective. For example, as noted by EAC (2006b):

Fisheries production still faces some constraints. These include cultivation into the fringing wetlands and destruction of vegetation causing erosion, siltation and pollutants into water bodies, growth and spread of undesirable aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth, increased illegal fishing practices, and increased fish postharvest losses.

The aggregated results are given by the relevance of the sector at the REC level (Table 32). The increase in the levels of inclusion of the ecosystem approach in future regional policies requires not only a better knowledge of the concept, through capacity building, but also a higher degree of articulation of sectoral policies. The ecosystem approach should be viewed and treated in strategic development plans as an approach separate from the usual general environmental approach and be given primacy when dealing with matters relating to fisheries and aquaculture.

5.6 GENDER MAINSTREAMING

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by country

The concept of gender mainstreaming, although already mentioned in the Third World Conference on Women, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15 to 26 July 1985 (United Nations, 1985), was formally featured in the Fourth Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 15 September 1995 (United Nations, 1995).

The agreed conclusions (1997/2) of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) defined gender mainstreaming as:

…the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality (United Nations General Assembly, 1997).

Gender mainstreaming refers to public policies oriented to gender equality.[9] In many countries, it can be observed in the differentiation of the work of men and women in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. The most common differential role is for men to produce fish and women to sell it. It also has been found that the role of women in the sector is usually acknowledged as important. Likewise, more often than not, women and youth are considered among the population groups most vulnerable to unemployment, poverty and food insecurity. While a deeper analysis should be performed at the country level to understand the causes of these gaps, these shortcomings reveal a wide scope to enhance the inclusion of gender issues and actions in the fisheries and aquaculture policies of most countries and RECs.

Gender is usually presented as a crosscutting issue in national policies, but then very few genderspecific interventions and components are followed through. Although the role of women is in some cases acknowledged, the specificities of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the key role of women are often lost in a general consideration of fisheries and aquaculture within the wider agricultural sector.

The countries of the Gambia and South Africa obtained the highest scores in terms of inclusion, followed by Malawi and Uganda (Table 33). These countries include reasonably clear and comprehensive gender components in their national fisheries policies. However, Uganda and Malawi ranked lower because their policy documents do not include specific actions to achieve the objectives. Excerpts on gender mainstreaming for the Gambia and Malawi are presented in Box 3.

The policy documents that received a medium score for gender mainstreaming generally included a clear action plan for ameliorating the situation of women. In other instances, further assessment on the role of women in the fisheries sector is included, to an extent where it is clear that, in those countries, gender mainstreaming is a crosscutting issue in all sectors, inclusive of fisheries and aquaculture. These countries are not scored higher, however, because of the lack of further articulation of gender issues and sustainability strategies relating to this sector.

Warranting commendation, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Zambia, under the priority area “Fisheries Development”, envisages the support of the Government to “strengthen gender balanced researchextensionfarmer linkages” (World Bank, 2007).

Table 34 shows the scores for the Gender Mainstreaming-Based Indicator of Integration of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IINFAGEN), calculated by adding the scores for IRFA and GENSCORE, as shown in Equation 8.

With regard to the ecosystem approach, the review revealed a low mainstreaming of gender issues in national policy documents (Table 34).

Assessment of the inclusion and integration by REC

Low integration is also detected at the REC level. However, this does not necessarily mean that there is a causality relationship between national policies towards regional policies. It is clear though that, generally, the overview and guidelines that regional policies give do influence national policies. Likewise, there is clearly a link between the inclusion and/or omission of key topics at both levels. References to gender issues related to fisheries could only be found in the SADC documents, which scored as low inclusion (Table 35). The Protocol on Fisheries of the SADC recognizes “the need to promote gender equality”, stating among its principles that, “in the implementation of this Protocol State Parties shall promote gender equality and address any potential inequalities” (SADC, 2006). On the other hand, no reference to the role of women in fisheries is given in the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development (SADC, 2008).

The aggregated results are given by the relevance of the sector at the REC level (Table 36). Gender-based issues need to be addressed within their particularities both at a regional and national level. There is also need for an acknowledgement of gender mainstreaming being a crosscutting issue, which should be provided for and reflected in better designed “genderspecific” components in policy documents.

6. Assessment of the discrepancy of fisheries and aquaculture in the national and regional policy documents

This chapter assesses the discrepancy of fisheries and aquaculture in the national and regional policy documents. Table 37 shows the overall discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and inclusion at the country level. The discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and inclusion at the country level by theme is presented in Annex 12.

The countries that revealed the lowest degrees of connection between relevance and inclusion are those with high discrepancy values. In these countries, fisheries and aquaculture activities are relevant, but the inclusion of the sector into policies is low. They ultimately reported higher in discrepancy, as gleaned from Table 37. These include countries such as Libya, Congo, Nigeria, Egypt and Sierra Leone. For the 14 countries ranging from the highest discrepancy value to half of that value,[10] the efforts should be directed to improve the extent of inclusion of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and its potential role into policy documents in terms of promoting food security, poverty eradication, gender mainstreaming, generation of foreign exchange and EAF/ EAA.

The end of Table 37 shows those countries where fisheries and aquaculture did not feature as an important sector, but where the studied themes are at least, to some extent, included in the policies.

It is worth highlighting that in Uganda, where fisheries and aquaculture are relevant, the studied themes are also included in national policy documents, leading to a negative discrepancy score (Table 37). Given the fact that IDFA is a complementary indicator to IINFA, the discrepancy value for Uganda reflects the high integration result.

This assessment also allows for focus on an appropriate approach for those countries that have a medium level of integration (section 5.1), depending on the values they obtained in the discrepancy analysis. It is possible to assess if the focus should be on the development of the production sector, or, whether attention should be channelled towards greater inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture into the policy design processes.

Table 38 shows the overall discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and inclusion in policy documents at the REC level. The discrepancy analysis by theme (Annex 13) highlighted the lack of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in REC policies, which resulted in IDFA scores solely being determined by the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector at the national level.

Based on the analysed documents, the performed analysis seems to highlight the need for improvements for ECOWAS, COMESA, UMA and CENSAD. The fisheries and aquaculture sector is relevant in these RECs, but there is no inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture in relation to the main policies of food security, poverty eradication, gender mainstreaming, generation of foreign exchange or the ecosystem approach.

Improving fisheries and aquaculture policies in the RECs would provide guidance for their Member States. Likewise, any review and amendment to regional policies, to further include fisheries and aquaculture, should also take into consideration lessons learned at the country level. The country context does play a part in understanding and catering to inclusion of the sector across the thematic areas.

The analysis of extent of relevance, inclusion, integration and discrepancy indicated that there are noticeable gaps in relation to such integration and much remains to be done in Africa. It is recommended that all RECs be encouraged to improve the extent to which they include and integrate fisheries and aquaculture in policy documents geared towards holistic development and the fight against poverty and food insecurity. By developing a culture of inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture-related policies in specific themes such as poverty eradication, foreign currency generation, food security, ecosystem approach and gender mainstreaming, RECs could act as a “sound box” as standard bearers of these improvements to all their Member States.

The holistic and sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa warrants that accurate and comprehensive policies are debated, drafted and implemented. The process by which the policies are generated should be inclusive and participatory, with stakeholders being actively involved. Such policies should take into account the gaps and relations with key sectors, the relevance of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the levels of inclusion.

The difference between well drafted and implemented fisheries and aquaculture policies, and poorly implemented, or even non-existent policies, is assessable and could result in social and economic losses at the national and regional level. Further actions should be taken to fully understand, appreciate and support the fisheries and aquaculture sector, to the extent where it is deemed relevant enough to be integrated in all policy documents aimed at spurring growth and development in Africa. Nevertheless, a multi-sectored collaborative effort is one “brick” closer towards achieving the desired “wall” of sustainable development in Africa.

7. Main conclusions

As a continent, Africa has changed rapidly in recent decades. Its population grew from around 228 million people in 1950 to 1.2 billion in 2016. Furthermore, the population is forecast to increase by 1.5 billion by 2025 and by 2.1 billion by 2040 (FAO, 2018d).

Although the average yearly growth of the African population is forecast to be 2.4 percent from 2016 to 2025 (the world population growth forecast for this period is 1.0 percent annually), the growth rate between countries varies from the current 0.2 percent in Mauritius to 3.9 percent in the Niger (elaboration of the authors based on FAO, 2018d).

From a purely economic standpoint, it can be noted that the African continent contains a market of slightly over 1 billion inhabitants (or consumers), growing by 30 million inhabitants per year and going through an accelerated process of urbanization and market concentration. Africa’s urban population is likely to triple by 2050 (UNECA, 2017).

The dynamic evolution of the population, production, international trade, and consumption of fish and fishery products in Africa demand a set of well envisioned policies. These policies should be designed to suit the local circumstances and context of each African country. They should facilitate the harnessing of potential and utilization of facilities afforded them by the RECs, which should provide an enabling environment for members and design benchmark policies to strengthen the initiatives, coordinate actions between Member States, and achieve economies of scale in the use of resources. Monitoring and evaluation could also help in compliance. The thematic areas of poverty eradication, food security, foreign exchange generation, gender mainstreaming, and the ecosystem approach are important cross-cutting issues and should be included in a meaningful way in national as well as regional policies.

The analysis of integration and discrepancy between the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture and policy documents reveals that much remains to be done in all African countries (Table 14). Although one might be tempted to infer a connection between the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the national level and the inclusion of the sector at the policy level, it is not possible to definitively establish such a causal relationship. This is reflected in countries that despite having a relevant sector still achieve poor inclusion in policies and vice versa. Therefore, the findings lead to two extreme scenarios. On the one hand, in countries where the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture is not recognized, then advocacy should be oriented towards raising awareness and enhancing the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to the themes studied. On the other hand, there are countries with a modest fisheries and aquaculture sector that have nevertheless implemented such policies and scored high levels of inclusion, acknowledging, to a great extent, the potential of the sector. Somewhere in between the two extremes, there is a range of national realities. In policy intervention, the approach to be taken to address gaps should always consider the national realities. To this end, the general starting point, the “one size fits all” policy approach, does not seem to be an adequate path towards boosting the contribution of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in achieving the SDGs in these African countries.

The same strategic remedial approach applies to RECs. They should be encouraged to improve their policies regarding fisheries and aquaculture, with a particular emphasis on the analysed themes (Table 16). Like the EAC, taking comprehensive and solid policy positions in fisheries is a starting point, which should always be accompanied by and spur action and output. Undoubtedly, RECs’ position and expertise can act as a catalyst towards all their Member States in developing fisheries and aquaculture-related policies to ensure poverty eradication, food security, foreign exchange generation, gender mainstreaming and EAF/EAA. Likewise, RECs have a role to play in improving the degree of integration of this promising sector (combined fisheries and aquaculture) into specific policies touching these thematic areas.

Predictably, the thematic concepts of poverty eradication and food security are better included in national policies than in REC policies, as these concepts are well known and have been explored for decades by national authorities.

Gender mainstreaming and the EAF/EAA are relatively new concepts in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and therefore are still not well provided for, included in, or incorporated in national and REC policies involving fisheries and aquaculture. EAF/EAA is vital for securing sustainability in the use of limited resources in relation to the capture sector as well as for fish farming. In addition, a gender balance between men and women in producer communities (fishers or fish farmers) is important for the sound development of the activity. It will also facilitate improvements in income generation and food security across families. Gender mainstreaming also gains ground in terms of food security, since the role of women becomes much more relevant in view of the construction of consumption habits in children at the household level, and the involvement women should have in the design of promotion strategies. Indeed, the thematic areas are also interrelated; where policies cater to some, there may be a “spill-off” of benefits to other areas.

Policies need to be precisely defined in such a way as to provide for the thematic concepts to spur development of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa. This will allow Africa to better seize existing opportunities and prevent waste with misguided investments. The difference between comprehensively solid implemented fisheries and aquaculture policies and poorly implemented ones, or even non-existent policies, is felt in losses on both the national and continental levels (Odijie, 2019).

The upshot is that while there are promising levels of integration of fisheries and aquaculture in policies geared towards development across the five focused thematic areas, generally, there is also room for improvement at the national, and certainly, at the regional level.

8. Recommendations

In Africa, as in many other parts of the world, the sector of fisheries and aquaculture, particularly the latter, is developing rapidly. The rapid development of fisheries and aquaculture takes place in a dynamic context of a continent comprising different countries.

Looking at the past, statistics are possibly the best way to understand the dynamics of this evolution. The role of the policies is to envisage likely development scenarios, establish specific objectives based on the current gaps, needs and existing opportunities and chart a course as to how to achieve them.

Policies have different levels according to their geographical scale. They can be on a continental basis or regional, as in the case of the RECs, which groups countries for specific purposes. They can also be national as well as at the level of provinces and municipalities.

Fisheries and aquaculture represent an important sector for food security and the creation of wealth. This creation of wealth includes the whole distribution chain, from producers to retailers, including wholesalers (with possible refrigerated storage), to transporters and processors. When retail prices are higher than the prices paid to primary producers, most of the wealth created in fisheries and aquaculture resides in the distribution chain, in terms of both employment creation and profit generation.

The grouping of producers in fisher or in fish-farmer communities, whether they are in small villages or in specific districts of big cities, highlights the role that these communities play in preserving and in expanding employment in these fields while also adopting ecosystem approaches and gender mainstreaming.

Fisher and fish-farmer communities can achieve high visibility in some African countries. Because they are one of the key stakeholders, they should have a leading role in facilitating the development of official national and regional policies relevant for this sector, including the development of action plans at the national and REC levels.

Recommendations have been produced based on both the performed assessment and the results of the Second Consultative Meeting on “Improving Policy Development in Aquaculture in Support of Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication”, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10 to 14 June 2019. In particular, during the Consultative Meeting, recommendations were formulated on how to improve the inclusion of fishery and aquaculture into policy documents that deal with poverty eradication, food security and nutrition to direct the mainstreaming of sustainable aquaculture development within wider policy frameworks.

8.1 RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE COUNTRY LEVEL

Fisheries and aquaculture play an important role in food security. In many cases, this relevance is underestimated or ignored (HLPE, 2014). The products from this sector are a direct and indirect source of food for communities. Directly, fisheries and aquaculture complement the diet of rural households as the main source of animal protein in fishing communities. They also contribute indirectly to food security by generating income. The wealth generation is then expanded along the value chain, reaching other stakeholders and populations.

An improvement in the availability of information on the fisheries and aquaculture value chain would contribute towards enhancing the visibility and awareness of this sector’s importance. Production, marketing, trade and connected activities should be assessed in order to improve available information on the level of activity, wealth generation, contribution to national economies, employment, impact on household livelihoods and subsistence activities, among other topics. In addition, market surveys would facilitate the evaluation of potentialities, unfulfilled demands and opportunities for boosting domestic and intraregional trade. Better knowledge of the value chain can also be a key input for the design of adequate measures to assure that the revenues of the fisheries and aquaculture sector translate to an improvement of national livelihoods.

Education and capacity building to raise awareness of the potential socio-economic impact of the development of fish production and trade should be embraced. Awareness-raising could boost the integration of the sector into national policies, thereby attracting funding for development programmes.

Many countries have developed specific policies for fisheries and aquaculture. However, in order to be effective, policies need to be complemented with an efficient fisheries and aquaculture administration, technical support and credit programmes. A higher involvement of fishery and aquaculture officers in the design of national agricultural policies (considering the wide definition of agriculture that is commonly used) could clearly contribute to enhancing the role given to fisheries and aquaculture within policies. An increase in the visibility of the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to national development goals can also result in more specific policies and actions, and incidentally, the allocation of funding for the promotion of the sector.

All relevant stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, should be included in the policy development process. In addition, fisher and fish-farming communities should be included as one of the key stakeholders and players in the implementation phase. They not only should be viewed as the target population, but also viewed as providers of valuable information, feedback and knowledge to national officers and authorities.

This higher involvement of fishery and aquaculture officers and stakeholders could also allow for working towards a holistic management of water resources, which are scarce in many African countries, as well as strengthening the foundation for the implementation of management measures of the ecosystems.

8.2 RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE REC LEVEL

The policies developed by SADC, EAC and ECCAS, regarding poverty alleviation, food security, foreign exchange generation, the ecosystem approach and gender mainstreaming in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, could represent as a useful guide to COMESA, ECOWAS, CENSAD, IGAD and UMA, where no special policies in these respects were identified. However, based on the performed assessment, all the RECs could improve the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture into the policies that deal with the five thematic areas.

If the RECs become a platform for the exchange of experiences and lessons learned among their Member States, this means positive experiences in one specific country can be disseminated to other countries where they can be replicated or adapted to their own context. Regional forums and round tables might then allow Member States to engage in knowledge sharing and discussions about their implemented policies. This could contribute to improving awareness of the status of fisheries and aquaculture in Member States, understanding the challenges and opportunities for sector development, and designing the lines of action for guiding the work of RECs. The planning of activities at the REC level should be wide enough to attend to the general Member States’ needs, but must also have the requisite flexibility to adapt to national realities, as well as being a channel to collate, coordinate and transmit lessons learned to Members. An adequate coordination of activities at a regional level will clearly result in economies of scale in terms of the use of resources and funding, since many outputs could attend to the shared needs of more than one country.

Where the development of domestic markets is recommended at national levels, RECs are the appropriate bodies to promote regional trade among their members. The creation of special working groups on fisheries and aquaculture in the RECs may represent a way to facilitate dialogue on fisheries and aquaculture, generate and share information, promote regional trade, and reinforce negotiation strength of Member States. Bargaining and market powers are strengthened when countries are grouped, as in the RECs. Topics to be discussed and dealt within the framework of the RECs could include, for instance, tariff and non-tariff trade barriers in Africa, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, management of transboundary resources (water resources and fish stocks), requirements for investment, conditions in domestic economies for foreign investors, and funding procurement with donors.

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Annex 1

Trend of capture fisheries production in Africa by REC: 1950–2016

Annex 2

Trend of aquaculture production in Africa by REC: 1950–2016

Annex 3

Trend of trade of fish and fisheries products in Africa by REC: value, 1976–2016

Annex 4

Trend of trade of fish and fisheries products in Africa by REC: volume, 1976–2016

Annex 5

Scoring calculations for the assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the country level

Annex 6

Scoring calculations for the assessment of the relevance of fisheries and aquaculture at the REC level

Annex 7

Performance matrix of the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture at the country level

Annex 8

Performance matrix of the inclusion of fisheries and aquaculture at the REC level

Annex 9

List of countries and membership in RECs included in the analysis of the policy documents

Annex 10

List of reviewed policy documents

NATIONAL DOCUMENTS REVIEWED

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

• FAO. Cadre Programmation par Pays 2013–2016.

• Ministère de la Pêche et des Ressources Halieutiques. Schéma Directeur de Développement des Activités de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture, Horizon 2025.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour la Coopération au Développement (UNDAF) 2007–2011.

The Republic of Angola

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2013–2017.

• NORAD. Review of the Norwegian Assistance to the Fishery Sector in Angola.

• United Nations. Angola’s Initial Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

• United Nations. National Adaptation Programme of Action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2011.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2009–2013.

The Republic of Benin

• African Development Bank Group. Country Strategy Paper 2012–2016.

• AU, ECOWAS, NEPAD. Revue Post-compact du PDDAA, 2010.

• ECOWAS. Plan Stratégique de Relance du Secteur Agricole, Programme 3 – Développement de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation par Pays 2012–2015.

• FAO. Élaboration du Cadre National des Priorités à Moyen Terme (CNPMT), Rapport Principal.

• International Monetary Fund. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2011.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement (UNDAF) 2009–2013.

The Republic of Botswana

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2009–2013.

• United Nations. Initial Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2010–2016.

Burkina Faso

• African Development Bank. Document de Stratégie Pays 2012–2016.

• AU, ECOWAS, NEPAD. Revue des Efforts de Développement dans le Secteur Agricole.

• AU, ECOWAS. Programme Détaillé de Développement de l’Agriculture Africaine (PDDAA).

• ECOWAS, NEPAD. Pacte pour l’Élaboration el la Mise en Œuvre du Programme National du Secteur Rural, 2010.

• FAO. Cadre National de Programmation à Moyen Terme des Interventions de la FAO, 2006–2010.

• FAO. Cadre National des Priorités à Moyen Terme (NMTPF), 2008.

• FAO. Priorités Nationales de Développement et Secteur Agricole, 2007.

• International Monetary Fund. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2004.

• Ministère de l’Environnement et du Cadre de Vie. Programme d’Action National d’Adaptation à la Variabilité et aux Changements Climatiques, 2007.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement (UNDAF) 2011–2015.

• Ministère des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques du Burkina Faso. 2013. Politique Nationale de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture au Burkina Faso (PNPA).

• Ministère des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques du Burkina Faso. 2013. Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture au Burkina Faso à l’Horizon 2025.

The Republic of Burundi

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2012–2016.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays 2012–2016.

• FAO. Cadre National Stratégique des Priorités d’Intervention à Moyen Terme de la FAO au Burundi (NMTPF), 2010–2014.

• FAO. Programme National de Sécurité Alimentaire (PNSA) 2009–2015.

• International Monetary Fund. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II, 2012.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Burundi. Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, 2012.

• The World Bank. Joint IDA–IMF Staff Advisory Note on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2008.

• United Nations. Stratégie Intégrée d’Appui des Nations Unies au Burundi 2010–2014.

The Republic of Cameroon

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2010–2014.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays 2013–2017.

• FAO. Cadre National de Programmation à Moyen Terme de la FAO au Cameroun 2008–2012.

• National Gouvernement. Document de Stratégie pour la Croissance et l’Emploi, 2009.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement (UNDAF) 2013–2017.

Republic of Cabo Verde

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2009–2012.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2012–2016.

• United Nations. Quadro de Assitência das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento da Republica de Cabo Verde 2012–2016.

The Central Africa Republic

• African Development Bank. Profil Genre de la République Centrafricaine.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays (CPP) 2012–2016.

• FAO. Cadre National des Priorités à Moyen Terme (NMTPF) 2008–2011.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework.

• NEPAD, ECCAS. Compact of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, 2011.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2007–2011.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour la Consolidation de la Paix et l’Aide au Développement 2012–2016.

The Republic of Chad

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2010–2014.

• FAO. Cadre des Priorités d’Intervention à Moyen Terme de la FAO (NMTPF), 2008–2010.

• International Monetary Fund. Document de Stratégie pour la Réduction de la Pauvreté, 2010.

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Programme d’Action National d’Adaptation aux Changements Climatiques, 2010.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2006–2010.

The Union of the Comoros

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• International Monetary Fund. Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Paper, 2010.

• The World Bank. Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and Joint Staff Advisory Note, 2006.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2008–2012.

• World Food Programme. Comoros: Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis, 2006.

The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire

• African Development Bank. Global Country Strategy Note 2009–2010.

• AU, ECOWAS. Programme Détaillé de Développement de l’Agriculture Africaine (PDDAA).

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays (CPP) 2012–2016.

• FAO. Cadre National des Priorités d’Intervention à Moyen Terme de la FAO (NMTPF), 2009–2013.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2009–2013.

• Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, ECOWAS and African Union. 2011. Plan d’Investissement Détaille pour la Mise en Œuvre du Programme National d’Investissement Agricole (2010–2015).

• Ministère des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques de la République de Côte d’Ivoire. 2014. Plan Stratégique de Développement de l’Elevage, de la Pèche et de l’Aquaculture (PSDEPA 2014–2020) Tome II: Matrice des Actions de Développement.

• Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable. 2011 Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable 2011.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo

• COMESA, NEPAD. Revue des Efforts de Développement dans le Secteur Agricole.

• FAO. Cadre National des Priorités à Moyen Terme, 2011–2015.

• International Food Policy Research Institute. Gender Assessment of the Agricultural Sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2012.

• Revue du Document de Stratégie de Croissance et de Réduction de la Pauvreté (DSCRP), 2010.

• United Nations. Country Assistance Framework – United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2007–2012.

• Ministère de l’Agriculture et du Développement Rural de la République Démocratique du Congo. 2013. Plan National d’Investissement Agricole PNIA 2013–2020.

• République Démocratique du Congo. 2011. Document de Politique Nationale de Pêche et de l’Aquaculture.

The Republic of Djibouti

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays (CPF) 2013–2017.

• Programme National pour la Sécurité Alimentaire (PNSA) et Plan d’Action dans le Secteur Primaire 2012–2017, Résume Exécutif.

• Programme National pour la Sécurité Alimentaire (PNSA) et Plan d’Action dans le Secteur Primaire 2012–2017, Note de Présentation.

• The World Bank. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and Joint Staff Assessment, 2004.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2013–2017.

The Arab Republic of Egypt

• African Development Bank. Interim Strategy Paper 2012–2013.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2012–2017.

• Rural Development Policy in Egypt Towards 2025.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2007–2011.

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea

• African Development Bank. Combined 2008–2012 Country Strategy Paper Completion Report and 2011 Country Portfolio Performance Review.

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2008–2012.

• FAO. Nota Conceptual del Marco de Programación de País (CPF), 2012.

• United Nations, Marco de Asistencia para el Desarrollo (UNDAF) 2013–2017.

The State of Eritrea

• African Development Bank. Interim Country Strategy Paper 2009–2011.

• Government of the State of Eritrea. Food Security Strategy, 2004.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2007–2011.

The Kingdom of Eswatini

• The Kingdom of Eswatini and the European Union. 2011. Final draft fresh water fisheries and aquaculture policy in Swaziland. Prepared by the European Union funded ACP Fish II Programme for the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Available at http://acpfish2-eu.org/uploads/projects/id3/Annex%209%20-%20Swaziland%20Final%20Draft%20Policy.pdf

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2009–2013 Mid-Term Review.

• Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. National Programme for Food Security, 2006.

• Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. National Food Security Policy, 2005.

• Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Strategy Brief for National Food Security and Agriculture Development, 2005.

• Kingdom of Eswatini, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP) Vol. 1, 2005.

• United Nations. Complementary Country Analysis, 2010.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2011–2015.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Ethiopia Study, 2009.

• FAO, World Food Programme. FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission, 2012.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2012–2015.

• Food Security Coordination Bureau. Food Security Programme, Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, 2004–2009.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Agricultural Sector Policy and Investment Framework (PIF) 2010–2020.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Agricultural Sector Policy and Investment Framework (PIF) 2010–2020, Ten Year Road Map.

• Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Growth and Transformation Plan 2010/11–2014/15.

• The World Bank. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and Joint IDA–IMF Staff Assessment, 2002.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2015.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework, Action Plan 2012–2015.

• Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 2016. Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II) (2015/16–2019/20). Addis Ababa, National Planning Commission.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 2016. Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Strategy.

• Ministry of Agriculture of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 2012. Country Programming Paper to End Drought Emergencies in the Horn of Africa.

The Gabonese Republic

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• FAO. Cadre National des Priorités à Moyen Terme, 2009–2013.

• Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Élevage, de la Pêche et du Développement Rural. Plan Stratégique pour le Développement de la Pêche de de l’Aquaculture, 2011–2016.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2012–2016.

The Republic of the Gambia

• African Development Bank. ADB–WB Joint Assistance Strategy 2008–2011.

• AU, ECOWAS. Gambia National Agricultural Investment Programme (GNAIP) Brief.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Review of Ongoing Agricultural Development Efforts.

• Department of State for Fisheries and Water Resources. Fisheries Policy of the Gambia.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2013–2017.

• Government of the Gambia. Gender and Women Empowerment Policy 2010–2020.

• The Republic of the Gambia. Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy 2009–2015.

• The Republic of the Gambia. National Agricultural Investment Plan (GNAIP) 2011–2015.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2016.

The Republic of Ghana

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2012–2016.

• AU, ECOWAS. Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy, Agriculture Sector Plan, Food Security and Emergency Preparedness Programme, Improved Growth in Incomes and Reduced Income Volatility Programme, 2009–2015.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Review of Ongoing Agricultural Development Efforts.

• Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP) 2011–2015.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2016.

The Republic of Guinea

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2012–2016.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2013–2017.

The Republic of Guinea–Bissau

• African Development Bank. Document de Stratégie Pays 2012–2016.

• Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. National Programme of Adaptation to Climate Change, 2006.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2013–2017.

The Republic of Kenya

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2008–2012.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2013–2017.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF) 2009–2013.

• Kenya CAADP Compact, Agricultural Sector Development Strategy, 2010.

• Ministry of Fisheries Development. National Oceans and Fisheries Policy, 2008.

• Republic of Kenya. Agricultural Sector Development Strategy 2010–2020.

• Republic of Kenya. Growth and Food Security Through Increased Agricultural Productivity and Trade, A Medium–Term Investment Plan for Kenya’s Agricultural Sector 2010–2015.

• Society for International Development. Kenya’s Vision 2030: An Audit from an Income and Gender Inequalities Perspective.

• The World Bank. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2004.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2009–2013.

The Kingdom of Lesotho

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2013–2017.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2013–2017.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2008–2012.

The Republic of Liberia

• African Development Bank. ADB-WB Joint Assistance Strategy 2008–2011.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Review of Ongoing Agricultural Development Efforts.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Strategic Options and Sources for Agricultural Growth, Poverty Reduction and Food Security.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework 2012–2015.

• Ministry of Agriculture. Food and Agriculture Policy and Strategy, 2008.

• Republic of Liberia. National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), 2008.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2008–2012.

State of Libya

• African Development Bank. Country Engagement Note, 2009.

The Republic of Madagascar

• FAO. Cadre National de Programmation à Moyen Terme des Interventions de la FAO au Madagascar 2007–2010.

• FAO. Plan d’Action National pour la Sécurité Alimentaire (PANSA), 2005.

• Government of Madagascar. The Madagascar Action Plan (MAP) 2007–2012.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement 2008–2011.

• République de Madagascar, MQSUN+, ONN and UNICEF. 2016. Plan de Mise en Œuvre du Plan National d’Action pour la Nutrition 2017–2021 (PNAN III). Draft.

• Ministère des Ressources Halieutiques et de la Pêche de la République de Madagascar. 2018. Lettre de Politique Bleue.

• République de Madagascar. 2019. Lettre de Politique Sectorielle Agriculture, Elevage et Pèche.

• Ministère d’Etat à l’agriculture et au Développement Rural Direction des Ressources Halieutiques et FAO. 1993. Pêche et Aquaculture à Madagascar Plan Directeur.

• République de Madagascar. 2018. Politique Nationale de Nutrition.

• République de Madagascar. 2015. Programme Sectoriel Agriculture Elevage Pèche Plan National d’Investissement Agricole PSAEP/PNIAEP 2016–2020.

• Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche de la République de Madagascar & FAO. 2005. Stratégie pour le Développement Durable d’Aquaculture à Madagascar.

• Ministère des Pêches et des Ressources Halieutiques de la République de Madagascar. 2012. Stratégie Nationale de Bonne Gouvernance des Pêches Maritimes à Madagascar.

The Republic of Malawi

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2013–2017.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF) 2010–2015.

• FAO. Plan of Action for Malawi, 2012–2016.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Agriculture Sector Gender, HIV and AIDS Strategy, 2012–2017.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Food Security Policy, 2006.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The Agriculture Sector Wide Approach, Malawi’s Prioritised and Harmonised Agricultural Development Agenda, 2010.

• The World Bank. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and Joint IDA–IMF Staff Assessment, 2006.

• United Nations. Malawi Country Assessment Report, 2010.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2016.

The Republic of Mali

• AU, ECOWAS, NEPAD. Revue Post Compact du PDDAA, 2010.

• AU, ECOWAS. Cadre Stratégique pour la Croissance et la Réduction de la Pauvreté (CSCRP), Programme de Développement de la Filière Pêche et Aquaculture.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement (UNDAF) 2008–2012.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays (CPF) 2013–2016.

• Ministry of Rural Development and of Environment. National Adaptation Programme of Action to Climate Change, 2004.

• African Development Bank. Mauritania: Results-Based Country Strategy Paper (RBCSP) 2011–2015.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2012–2016.

• United Nations. Plan d’Action de l’UNDAF 2012–2016.

The Republic of Mauritius

• FAO. 2007. Preparation of a National Medium-Term Priority Framework related to Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Nutrition and Food Security for Mauritius and Rodrigues, 2007.

• Food Security Fund Committee. 2008. Strategic Plan 2008–2011. Available at http://agriculture.govmu.org/English/Documents/Food%20Security%20Fund%20Strategies.pdf

• Republic of Mauritius. 2010. Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Available at https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/musnc2.pdf

The Kingdom of Morocco

• Stratégie et Plan d’Actions National pour la Diversité Biologique du Maroc, 2016–2020.

• Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable 2015–2020.

• Politique du Changement Climatique au Maroc.

• Stratégie Nationale de la Nutrition 2011–2019 (SNN).

• Plan Maroc Vert.

• Stratégie Nationale pour la Conservation et l’Utilisation Durable de la Diversité Biologique.

• Stratégie Nationale d’Éducation et de Sensibilisation à l’Environnement et au Développement Durable (SN-ESE-DD), 2005–2014.

• Stratégie Nationale pour l’Equité et l’Egalité entre les Sexes par l’Intégration de l’Approche Genre dans les Politiques et les Programmes de Développement (2006).

The Republic of Mozambique

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• FAO. Country Program Framework within the UN Delivering as One 2012–2015.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF) 2008–2012.

• International Monetary Fund. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2011.

• Ministério da Agricultura, República de Moçambique. Plano Estratégico para o Desenvolvimento do Sector Agrário (PEDSA) 2010–2019.

• The World Bank. Joint IDA–IMF Staff Assessment on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), 2006.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2015.

The Republic of Namibia

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2009–2013.

• Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2011.

The Republic of the Niger

• FAO. Plan Cadre des Priorités à Moyen Terme de la FAO au Niger 2010–2013.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2009–2013.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2013–2017.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2013–2017.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF) 2010–2012.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2009–2012.

The Republic of the Congo

• African Development Bank. Document de Stratégie Pays 2013–2017.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2009–2013.

The Republic of Rwanda

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2012–2016.

• FAO. Cadre des Priorités d’Intervention à Moyen Terme de la FAO (NMTPF), 2008–2012.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Agriculture Sector Investment Plan 2009–2012.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture in Rwanda – Phase II (PSTA II), 2009.

• NEPAD. CAADP Implementation in Rwanda under the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2006.

• NEPAD. Long-Term Framework for the Implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), 2007.

• The World Bank. Joint IDA-IMF Staff Assessment on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), 2008.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2008–2012.

The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2012–2016.

• FAO. Cadre National des Priorités à Moyen Terme de la FAO (NMTPF), 2009–2013.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Aide au Développement 2012–2016.

The Republic of Senegal

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2010–2015.

• AU, ECOWAS. Pacte National ECOWAP/PDDAA du Senegal.

• AU, ECOWAS. Plan d’Action pour le Développement de la Pêche et l’Aquaculture.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Croissance Agricole, Réduction de la Pauvreté et Securité Alimentaire: Performance Recente et Perspectives.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Options Stratégicques et Sources de Croissance Agricole, de Réduction de la Pauvreté et de Securité Alimentaire.

• FAO. Cadre National sur les Priorités à Moyen Terme de la FAO (NMTPF), 2012–2016.

• Ministère de l’Économie Maritime, des Transports Maritimes, de la Pêche et de la Pisciculture du Sénégal. 2007. Lettre de Politique Sectorielle des Pêches et de l’Aquaculture. Available at www.ntiposoft.com/domaine…/lettre_de_politique_sectorielle.pdf

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement 2012–2016.

The Republic of Seychelles

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• AU. CAADP Compact.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework 2007–2010.

• The Republic of Seychelles. Seychelles Strategy 2017.

• The Republic of Seychelles. The Fisheries Policy.

The Republic of Sierra Leone

• African Development Bank. ADB/IDA/IFC Joint Assistance Strategy 2009–2012.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Agricultural Growth, Poverty Reduction and Food Security: Past Performance and Prospective Outcomes.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. CAADP Post Compact Review, 2010.

• FAO. Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2012–2016.

• The Republic of Sierra Leone. National Sustainable Agriculture Development Plan 2010–2030.

The Federal Republic of Somalia

• FAO. 5 Year FAO Strategy and Plan of Action 2011–2015.

• FAO. Country Programme Paper, 2012.

• FAO. FAO Somalia Plan of Action 2011–2012.

• United Nations, the World Bank. Somali Reconstruction and Development Programme, Volume I, 2008.

• United Nations. UN Somali Assistance Strategy 2011–2016.

The Republic of South Africa

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2013–2017.

• Government of South Africa. Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2007–2010.

• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Republic of South Africa. 2013. National Aquaculture Policy Framework for South Africa.

• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Republic of South Africa. 2012. National Aquaculture Strategic Framework (NASF) for South Africa.

The Republic of South Sudan

• African Development Bank. Interim Country Strategy Paper 2012–2014.

• FAO. Plan of Action for Southern Sudan 2010–2012.

• Government of South Sudan. Growth Strategy 2010–2012.

• Sudan National Food Security Action Plan, 2008.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2013.

The Republic of the Sudan

• FAO. Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2012–2016.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework 2008–2012.

• Sudan National Food Security Action Plan, 2008.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework, 2012.

The United Republic of Tanzania

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• AU, NEPAD, SADC. CAADP Post Compact Road Map for Tanzania, 2010.

• AU, NEPAD, SADC. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), Compact for Supporting Agricultural Development in Tanzania.

• AU, NEPAD. Achieving Food Security in Tanzania.

• AU, NEPAD. Improving Market Access and Value Addition for Sustainable Agricultural Development.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF) 2006–2010.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. National Food Security Policy, 2005.

• Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. National Nutrition Strategy 2009–2015.

• Tanzania Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plan (TAFSIP) 2011–12 to 2020–21.

• The World Bank. National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty and Joint IDA–IMF Staff Advisory Note, 2006.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2011–2015.

• Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives of the United Republic of Tanzania. 2013. National Agriculture Policy.

• Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development of the United Republic of Tanzania. 2015. National Fisheries Policy.

The Togolese Republic

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Intensification et Développement Durable des Systèmes de Production.

• AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS. Revue des Efforts de Développement dans le Secteur Agricole.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation Pays 2013–2017.

• FAO. Cadre National de Priorités à Moyen Terme de la FAO (CNPMT), 2010–2013.

• United Nations. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement 2008–2012.

The Republic of Tunisia

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2007–2011.

• FAO. Cadre de Programmation par Pays 2012–2015.

• African Development Bank. Interim Country Strategy Paper 2012–2013.

The Republic of Uganda

• African Development Bank. Result-Based Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• FAO. Country Support Strategic Framework 2010–2014.

• FAO. Uganda National Aquaculture Development Strategy, 2008.

• International Monetary Fund. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2010.

• Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. Development Strategy and Investment Plan 2010/11–2014/15.

• Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. The National Fisheries Policy, 2004.

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2010–2014.

The Republic of Zambia

• African Development Bank. Country Strategy Paper 2011–2015.

• FAO. National Medium Term Priority Framework 2009–2013.

• Republic of Zambia. Sixth National Development Plan 2011–2015.

• World Bank, WorldFish Center. Fisheries in Zambia: An Undervalued Contributor to Poverty Reduction, 2009.

• World Bank. 2007. Zambia – Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and Joint IDA–IMF Staff Advisory Note (English). Washington, DC, World Bank. Available at http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/932451468334759827/pdf/401270IDA1SecM200710496main.pdf

• United Nations. United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2011–2015.

• WorldFish Center. The Governance of Small-Scale Fisheries in Zambia, 2007.

• National Food and Nutrition Commission of Zambia. 2018. Guidelines for Nutrition Planning and Budgeting in Sector Ministries in Zambia. The Republic of Zambia.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of the Republic of Zambia. 2015. Second National Agricultural Policy. Draft.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of the Republic of Zambia. 2004. National Aquaculture Strategy. Draft.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of the Republic of Zambia and European Development Fund. 2016. Performance Enhancement Programme for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of fisheries and Livestock for Better Service Delivery to Farmers (11th EDF Programme).

• Mulenga, V. 2016. The Aquaculture Parks Establishment and Development in Zambia. Department of Fisheries of the Republic of Zambia.

The Republic of Zimbabwe

• African Development Bank. 2009. Short-Term Strategy: Concept Note. Available at www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Policy-Documents/Zimbabwe%20ST%20Strategy%20-%20%20concept%20note.pdf

• Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe and FAO. 2011. FAO–Zimbabwe Country Programme Framework 2012–2015. Available at www.fao.org/3/abp607e.pdf%22&gt

• Mudimu, G. 2003. Zimbabwe Food Security Issues Paper for Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa. Available at www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/5613.pdf

• Government of Zimbabwe and United Nations Zimbabwe. 2010. Country Analysis Report for Zimbabwe. Available at www.zw.one.un.org/sites/default/files/Country%20Analysis%20Report%20for%20Zimbabwe%202010.pdf

• Government of Zimbabwe and United Nations. 2010. 2010 Millennium Development Goals Status Report Zimbabwe, 2010. Available at www.zw.one.un.org/sites/default/files/Zimbabwe%20MDGR%20%202010.pdf

• Government of Zimbabwe and United Nations Zimbabwe. 2011. Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2012–2015. Available at www.zw.one.un.org/sites/default/files/ZUNDAF%202012–2015.pdf

• Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Republic of Zimbabwe. 2011. Zimbabwe Medium Term Plan 2011–2015. Available at www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/country_docs/Zimbabwe/zimbabwe_midtermplan–2011–2015.pdf

RECS DOCUMENTS REVIEWED

COMESA

• COMESA. 2008. Gender Mainstreaming Strategic Action Plan.

EAC

• EAC. 2006. Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources Management.

• EAC. 2006. Agriculture and Rural Development Policy for the East African Community. Available at www.eac-quality.net/fileadmin/eac_quality/user_documents/3_pdf/Agriculture_and_Rural_Development_Policy.pdf

• EAC. 2006. Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy for the East African Community (2005–2030). Available at www.eac-quality.net/fileadmin/eac_quality/user_documents/3_pdf/Agriculture_and_Rural_Development_Strategy.pdf

• EAC. 2011. EAC Food Security Action Plan 2011–2015.

ECCAS

• ECCAS. 2014. Programme d’Action de la CEEAC Exercice 2015. Available at www.ceeac-eccas.org/index.php/en/ressources/telechargement/send/13-publications/286-programme-d-action-2015-de-la-ceeac

ECOWAS

• ECOWAS. 2009. Regional Partnership Compact for the Implementation of ECOWAP/ CAADP, 2009.

IGAD

• Mochoge, B. and Zziwa, S. 2004. Agricultural and Food Security Challenges for the IGAD Region, Conference Paper No. 3, 2004. Paper Presented at the NEPAD/IGAD Regional Conference “Agricultural Successes in the Greater Horn of Africa”, Nairobi, 22–25 November 2004.

SADC

• SADC. 2008. Protocol on gender and development. Available at www.sadc.int/documents-publications/show/Protocol_on_Gender_and_Development_2008.pdf

• SADC. 2006. Protocol on fisheries. Available at www.sadc.int/files/8214/7306/3295/SADC_Protocol_on_Fisheries.pdf

• SADC. 2011. Desk Assessment of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2005–2010. www.sadc.int/documents-publications/show/Regional_Indicative_Strategic_Development_Plan_Desk_Assessment.pdf

• SADC. 2001. Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan. Available at www.sadc.int/files/5713/5292/8372/Regional_Indicative_Strategic_Development_Plan.pdf

Annex 11

References to fisheries and aquaculture in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF)

Annex 12

Discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and policy documents at the country level by theme

Table A12.1 shows the scores for the Poverty Eradication-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAPOV) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to POVSCORE, as shown in Equation 10.

Table A12.2 shows the scores for the Foreign Currency Generation-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAFEG) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to FEGSCORE, as shown in Equation 11.

Table A12.3 shows the scores for the Food Security-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAFOOD) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to FOODSCORE, as shown in Equation 12.

Table A12.4 shows the scores for the Sustainable ecosystem-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFASUST) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to SUSTSCORE, as shown in Equation 13.

Table A12.5 shows the scores for the Gender Mainstreaming-Based Indicator of Discrepancy of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IDFAGEN) is calculated by subtracting the scores for IRFA to GENSCORE, as shown” in Equation 14.

Annex 13

Discrepancy between fisheries and aquaculture relevance and policy documents at the REC level by theme

1 TFC is derived by the FAO Food Balance Sheet (FBS) of fish and fishery products in live weight tonnes by using the following equation: production less reduction to meal and other non-food uses, plus imports, less exports and re-exports, plus or less variation in stocks (FAO, 2017b).

2 Malnutrition targets 2.1 of SDG 2: by 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. Malnutrition targets 2.2 of SDG 2: by 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons.

3 Many countries are members of more than one REC. In this work, figures and tables were produced by aggregating data at the country level; for both 2006 and 2016, aggregated data refer to the list of countries that were members in 2016.

4 Fish and fishery products imports and exports are aggregated according to the General Trade System by summing up national fishery commodities exports and re-exports.

5 The data refer to 2013 (FAO, 2018c).

6 FAOLEX is a comprehensive and up-to-date legislative and policy database, one of the world’s largest electronic collection of national laws, regulations and policies on food, agriculture and natural resources management. Available at www.fao.org/faolex/en/.

7 Information about the availability of PRSPs and FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF) and the references to fisheries and aquaculture are provided in Annex 9. PRSPs are “prepared by governments in low-income countries through a participatory process involving domestic stakeholders and external development partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. A PRSP describes the macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programs that a country will pursue over several years to promote broad-based growth and reduce poverty, as well as external financing needs and the associated sources of financing”. CPF “constitutes the agreement between FAO and the national government on the national priorities the Organization will address over a period of 4–6 years and the results that FAO commits to achieve within that time frame”. (FAO TERM PORTAL; available at www.fao.org/faoterm.)

8 CAADP Compacts are agreements on the identified priority areas of investments by national and international partners (AU and Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, 2009).

9 Gender equality “refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development” (UN Women, 2018).

10 Calculations were performed having IDFA equal to 12 as the highest value.

Background

The establishment of pan-Mediterranean and Black Sea surveys has been motivated by the lack of comprehensive studies of the biological status of most demersal and pelagic fish stocks in some Mediterranean areas (GFCM, 2007; GFCM, 2017a, 2017b). To date, scientific surveys in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea have been carried out at an international scale, mainly covering European Union countries (Bertrand et al., 1997, 2002; AdriaMed, 2011; MEDITS, 2017; MEDIAS, 2019), with very few national surveys and varying degrees of comparability among surveys and countries. To effectively use survey information from all sources, the adoption of standard survey methods and stratification schemes is essential. Survey data throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea should be harmonized in order to capture the most relevant biological events and to allow for more accurate estimates of life history parameters such as mortality and growth. Since the boundaries of stock units are still not very well known for most Mediterranean species, the need for standardized indices of abundance and demography is a priority. Such data would provide valuable records to better assess the spatial occupation of the diverse components of stocks (e.g. seasonal distribution, spatial segregation, community structure and recruitment areas). This gain in accuracy would, in turn, sharpen the evaluation of variations in population indicators and input data/parameters for population and community modelling.

At a coordination meeting for the implementation of scientific surveys in the Mediterranean, organized by the GFCM in 2017 (GFCM, 2017d), it was decided that the existing manuals already in use among some GFCM countries (MEDIAS, 2015; 2017; 2019; MEDITS, 2016; 2017; SoleMon, 2017; 2019) and covering both demersal (bottom and beam) trawl and pelagic acoustic surveys should be considered as the main references. The proposal was endorsed by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) (GFCM, 2017a) and the Working Group on the Black Sea (WGBS) (GFCM, 2016, 2017b, 2019b). In terms of target species, this document addresses priority species identified by the SAC and the WGBS, on the basis of the work carried out by the GFCM working groups on stock assessment (WGSAs) and in line with existing data collection requirements within the GFCM Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF). The list of target species, which is based on the existing manuals, may be complemented at a later stage with other species of regional or subregional interest (GFCM, 2017d; 2018a).