The project would target core governance and productivity challenges in Madagascar
WASHINGTON, March 28, 2017 – Today, Madagascar and Indian Ocean Commission received $83.15 million to improve the management of selected fisheries at regional, national and community levels and to increase access by targeted fishers to alternative livelihood activities.
Marine fisheries and aquaculture production is worth $213 million per year for Madagascar alone, where fisheries can contribute up to 7 percent of GDP annually. In Madagascar, the sector directly employs at least 300,000 and indirectly or part time an estimated 500,000 people, including a high proportion of the coastal population which has some of the most vulnerable, marginalized, and landless communities. Many women are involved in the small-scale fisheries sector, mainly in seafood collection, processing, marketing, and aquaculture. The sector is also a major contributor to nutritional health and food security.
“The Second South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish2) complements the first on-going SWIOFish project operating in Comoros, Mozambique and Tanzania. It aims at increasing the economic, social, and environmental benefits of South West Indian Ocean countries from sustainable marine fisheries, in particular Madagascar. Improved fisheries management and greater involvement of communities and the private sector and increased contribution to economies are necessary to prevent further loss of ecosystem services,” said Xavier Vincent and Benjamin Garnaud, World Bank Project Leaders of SWIOFish2.
The funding consists of a $65 million credit by the World Bank, $6.42 million grant by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), $2.73 million by the Japan’s Policy and Human Resources Development Trust Fund to Madagascar, and a $9 million grant by the World Bank to the Indian Ocean Commission.
“The support of the SWIOFish series of projects is unique in combining support for regional cooperation on fisheries with local and national priorities for fisheries management,” said Astrid Hillers and Christian Severin, GEF leads on International Waters at the global level and in Africa. “The project will substantially improve Madagascar’s ability to reverse the decline of marine fisheries, improve local livelihoods of fishing communities, and enhance fisheries management along the supply chain in cooperation with the private sector.”
The project would strengthen the financing, coordinating, and knowledge exchange mechanism initiated through the first project of the series, SWIOFish1. The project activities would target core governance and productivity challenges in Madagascar, remove critical constraints to sustainable business and private investment, bring part of the offshore fisheries economy within country economies and add value through regional collaboration.
