BACKGROUND

Fish and fishery products contribute to nutrition, food security and employment in many countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. In many of the countries in this region, small-scale fisheries supply up to 80 percent of the products for domestic consumption, which improves nutrition for the poor and vulnerable and ensures food security in fishing communities. The subsector sustains the supplies through artisanal fishermen who are over 600 000 along the West African coastline alone. These numbers are increased seasonally by part-time fishermen involved in farming, especially in riverine and lacustrine areas inland. The professionals migrate within and between countries contributing to national economies. In some of these economies, the fisheries sector contributes up to 10 percent of the GDP, 50 percent of the foreign currency earnings and 20 percent of the government's revenues. The resources from which the supplies are generated need to be sustained. The sustainability is now being threatened by high population growth rates, rapidly expanding fish markets and improved catching technology. The need to prevent and, in some cases, rectify the consequent decline in yields from stocks and catches makes fisheries management imperative.

As a strategy, FAO assists Members to conserve and enhance sustainable use of natural resources. Communities are assisted through the implementation of Agenda 21 and through the promotion of fisheries management within the Medium Term Plan. As part of its Medium Term Plan, the FAO Fisheries Department is implementing Programme Entity 234A4: Promotion of coastal fisheries management. The objective of the programme is to assist concerned stakeholders (fishers and fishworkers, fisher communities, small-scale and semi-industrial fishing sector, governmental and non-governmental agencies) in the analysis of coastal fisheries management approaches in selected countries and in designing and implementing participatory fisheries management schemes in line with the relevant provisions of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). The emphasis is on suitable institutional mechanisms and processes for effective participation and long-term sustainability. Such a process entails consolidating related conceptual frameworks and requires inputs from experts familiar with the systems and the countries concerned.

The implementation of Programme Entity 234A4 should also be seen in light with the recommendation of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) which, at its Twenty-fourth Session, reiterated the need to devote increased efforts to promoting improvements in global fisheries management, including the management of small-scale fisheries^[1]. Hence, the initiative to organize an "Expert Consultation on Small-scale Fisheries Management in Sub-Saharan Africa".