| Task 1.5: Carry out a stakeholder analysis |
Stakeholders in the fisheries co-management system are identified to ensure that they are informed about the evaluation and participate in it. The identification of stakeholders is undertaken using a stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder is an individual, a group or an organization that influences, or is otherwise interested, involved or affected by a particular fisheries co-management system. This can include, for example, fishers, women fish buyers, youth, government fisheries managers, boat owners, co-management organizations and others. The stakeholder analysis can identify economic, social and political power structures that may impact the evaluation.
What is a stakeholder analysis?
Stakeholder analysis is a tool for identifying the needs and concerns of different stakeholders. The purpose of a stakeholder analysis in co-management is to identify who the key stakeholders are, and then determine how their interests should be addressed in the co-management system and plan. These different stakeholders all have their own demands and interests, and determining how those different interests will be balanced is a key part of stakeholder analysis. Stakeholder analysis can be a useful tool for: gaining understanding and building consensus; communicating the benefits of a proposed project; and building strong, inclusive campaigns that involve the public.
Source: FAO. 2008. Stakeholder analysis. Food security information for action. Practical guides. Rome.
- Stakeholders may be part of the participatory evaluation process, so care has to be taken not to bias the analyses.
- Power relationships may be revealed and need to be managed, especially if there are pronounced differences in the power of different stakeholder groups.
- Tools to acknowledge and include indigenous people’s culture, local elites, women, the poor and vulnerable, etc. also apply to this task.