An overview of the financial support behind the implementation of the SSF Guidelines

Why is it important to fund the FAO SSF Umbrella Program?

Small-scale fisheries engage approximately 108 million people world-wide, many of whom support and sustain the communities and families they are a part of. Moreover, approximately half of the world’s capture fisheries production originate from small-scale fisheries, of which 90% is from fisheries in developing countries. Despite this contribution to global food security and nutrition, small-scale fisheries tend to be inadequately addressed, both with regard to resource management and from a broader social and economic development perspective.

The FAO SSF Umbrella Program is the operational framework for the promotion and application of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) that allows FAO to respond to requests from countries and other partners to support sustainable small-scale fisheries. It consists of four interrelated components: raising awareness about small-scale fisheries and related challenges and opportunities; strengthening the science-policy interface by generating better information on small-scale fisheries; empowering small-scale fisher and fish worker organisations and increasing governments’ knowledge, skills and capacity; and, supporting the implementation of the SSF Guidelines by creating an enabling environment.

In addition to being a tool for empowerment for small-scale fishers and fishworkers around the world, the SSF Guidelines are an international policy instrument that facilitates FAO’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 17 Goals agreed on in 2015 at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Specifically, the SSF Guidelines, can be used to achieve SDG 14.b, ‘provide access of small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets’.

Who currently funds the SSF Umbrella Program and why?

Wegratefully acknowledge the governments of Sweden and Norway for the financial support to the SSF Umbrella Program. The Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) have shared with us their reasons for funding the implementation of the SSF Guidelines.

Mats Åberg and Anders Alm – Senior Program Specialists at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (Sida) – discuss reasons for supporting the implementation of the SSF Guidelines

How do the SSF Guidelines relate to Sida’s development policy?

The objective of Sida is to create preconditions for better living conditions for people living in poverty and under oppression. Sweden’s development cooperation is founded on the principles of aid and development effectiveness, as well as the international agreements that the international community reached in 2015: the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Sida’s objective works analogously with the principles and objectives of the SSF Guidelines, which are founded on a human-rights based approach to sustainable development, providing us with a strong motivation for supporting the SSF Umbrella Program. In addition to this, Sweden has a strong tradition of supporting fishing cultures and we would like to see this continued in our work, especially since small-scale fisheries are evidenced to have a smaller carbon footprint than other food sectors.

The pursual of Sida’s support to implement the SSF Guidelines are formalized in the ‘Strategy for Sweden’s global development cooperation in sustainable economic development 2018-2022’ and “Strategy for Sweden’s global development cooperation in the areas of environmental sustainability, sustainable climate and oceans, and sustainable use of natural resources 2018–2022”. The strategy’s objectives include ‘increased productivity and sustainable production in agriculture, forestry and fisheries’, as well as ‘women’s economic empowerment’ and ‘improved conditions for productive employment and decent work’, which resonates with many of the provisions and thematic areas of the SSF Guidelines. By building partnerships with global partners, multilateral organisations and civil society organisations, Sida can ensure that its support includes possibilities for small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs, including small-scale fishers and fishworkers, to contribute to innovation, growth and job creation. We would also like to emphasise that gender equality and the empowerment and rights of women and girls are both goals in themselves and a prerequisite for all projects endorsed by Sida.

Why did Sida decide to support the SSF Umbrella Program?

An important motivation for Sida to support the SSF Umbrella Program is the cross-cutting objective to empower fishers and fisher workers. The SSF Guidelines advocate that small-scale fisheries actors should have equal access to decision-making processes. More generally, the SSF Guidelines provide a template for all to act responsibly in marine and inland fisheries governance and conservation. Taken together, these two motivations also resound deeply with the Swedish government’s ambition to assure gender equality and equity globally, and mitigate the challenges being brought on by climate change. Importantly, under the SSF Umbrella Programme, Sida creates the possibility for FAO to provide resources to fisherfolks organisations.

Another, and equally important reason for supporting the SSF Guidelines is the high degree of alignment they find with many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs, supported by other global and regional frameworks such as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change are universal and indivisible, integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development – the social, the economic and the environmental. For the Swedish government, Agenda 2030 represents the highest accolade of sustainable development and the intention is to support the implementation of policy instruments, such as the SSF Guidelines, that help fulfil the Agenda 2030 goals.

What is Sida’s message to other development partners in relation to supporting the SSF Umbrella Program?

We encourage development partners to support holistic and multi-donor programs and not pursue isolated agendas. The SSF Umbrella Program is critical for promoting the SSF Guidelines implementation but also to combatting climate change, gender equality and a host of other challenges in the arena of small-scale fisheries. It provides an important opportunity for different FAO resource partners to support synergistic activities, and we have in fact chosen to complement funding provided by Norway under the SSF Umbrella Programme to allow processes started under that funding to be complemented and upscaled.

To facilitate a unified effort from donors and realise the successful implementation of the SSF Guidelines we urge partners to work alongside the FAO, an organisation that has the necessary qualities and assets required. First and foremost, the FAO is a centre of knowledge and consequently has the global infrastructure, networks and technical resources necessary to concentrate efforts where they are needed most and share knowledge acquired in one world region with other regions facing similar challenges. Furthermore, FAO have pre-established relationships with numerous small-scale fishery organisations and is therefore in an optimal position to help bring fisherfolk into decision-making processes, while supporting governments in strengthening inclusive governance processes.

On the international stage, FAO’s scope and mandate is epitomised in the organisation’s political role. COFI is a platform that enables tangible and observable progress in fisheries policy and governance. As we venture further into the C21st and tackle global challenges it remains vital that we collectively use this space for dialogue, discussion and consensus.

Nina Kristin Snyder - Senior Adviser to The Knowledge Bank – and Anne Wetlesen - Senior Adviser to the Department for Climate, Energy and Environment – speak on behalf of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) about Norway’s foreign development policy and where the SSF Guidelines fit into it.

Why does Norad see value in supporting the SSF Umbrella Program?

The SSF Guidelines are and will continue to be a priority area in Norway’s fisheries development cooperation. We believe that vulnerable groups have the right to be heard when decisions about their livelihoods are being made. Implementation of the SSF Guidelines will help to secure sustainable small-scale fisheries, and have positive consequences for nutrition, food-security, poverty-eradication, working conditions and resource management.

Norad has supported the SSF Guidelines since their beginnings during the 2008 Global Conference on Small-Scale Fisheries held in Bangkok. After the endorsement of the SSF Guidelines in 2014, Norad contributed USD 2.5 million to the project ‘Enhancing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to food security and sustainable livelihoods through better policies, strategies and initiatives’ from 2015 to 2018, giving first breath to theSSF Umbrella Program. The support was continued in a new agreement from 2019, focussing in particular on women’s roles and opportunities in the post-harvest sector of fisheries, as part of our Food from the oceans initiative.

It has been hugely satisfying to see this initiative lay so much of the groundwork that has since seen such promising engagements from partners at the national, regional and international level, as well as increased engagement and commitments from other development partners. Norad is also pleased to be collaborating with small-scale fishery organisations and the governments of Ghana, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Malawi with coordination from FAO in the current phase of the project.

How do the SSF Guidelines relate to Norway’s development policy?

Norway regards the 2030 Agendaas the transformative global roadmap for our national and international efforts aimed at eradicating extreme poverty while protecting planetary boundaries and promoting prosperity, peace and justice. Suffice to say, we see the SSF Guidelines as a central international policy instrument to achieving many of the SDGs.

The oceans are a priority area for Norway. In 2019, Norway launched an action plan for sustainable food systems under our foreign and development policy and food from the oceans will be increasingly important in the implementation of this plan. Our intentions include strengthening the role of seafood in improving food security and nutrition. In the context of Agenda 2030, SDG 14 targets the sustainable use of ocean resources. From the perspective of small-scale fishing, sustainable use of the oceans is important to eradicate poverty and provide food security and nutrition for all, thereby contributing to SDG’s 1 and 2. To formalise Norway’s commitment to the oceans in the context of foreign policy and development a white paper was submitted to the Storting – Norway’s highest legislative body – where the role of small-scale fisheries to sustainable food systems is referenced throughout.

During the Our Ocean Conference held in Oslo in 2019, the Norwegian government announced a budget of just over USD 340 million to back 17 wide-ranging commitments for ocean governance and conservation, from a new initiative of support to ‘Food from the Oceans’, to pledging an increase in allocation to the Fish for Development Program for 2020-2021, to successfully concluding the fisheries subsidies negotiations in the World Trade Organisation. The SSF Guidelines have a role in many of these international commitments and we intend on promoting their usage at every appropriate opportunity.

Why does Norad see FAO as an appropriate development partner to implement this work?

Strengthening resources for food production from oceans, lakes and aquaculture, and securing access for small-scale communities are global issues. No donor or country can achieve results on these issues in isolation. It is therefore important to work together on these issues through global partners, and UN-organizations are the first choice for Norway. The FAO with its mandate to achieve food security for all and to end hunger and malnutrition is an obvious partner for Norwegian development policy. As custodian agency for many of the SDGs, the FAO plays a key role in the efforts to achieve Agenda 2030, particularly in low-income countries.

Norway, as a Member State of the FAO and proactive voice at the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), is responsible for goals agreed on with the FAO membership, including the implementation of the SSF Guidelines. Aside from the political commitment to encourage dialogue and discussion, FAO’s knowledge and experience in global development is an important factor in Norway’s choice of partner.

What is Norad’s message to other development partners in relation to supporting efforts to implement the SSF Guidelines?

Malnutrition is on the rise globally, and the poorest communities are hardest hit. It must be recognized that fish and food from the oceans is a valuable food source that must be made accessible for the most vulnerable. Hence, it is crucial that policy makers understand and acknowledge the importance of the small-scale fisheries sector in both local and global contexts. The SSF Guidelines were made by and for fishers and fish workers. We therefore encourage other development partners to promote and prioritize the rights of fishers and fish workers by supporting the SSF Guidelines implementation, as the small-scale fishing sector is often informal and it is therefore easy for the most vulnerable to be left behind in development efforts.