Malawi launches national plan of action for small- scale fisheries (2023 – 2030)

Principal Secretary at Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change Dr. Nkungula (left) and Mr. Dias, Senior Project Officer at FAO (centre) launching the NPOA-SSF and Gender, HIV and AIDS Strategy.

The Government of Malawi, through the Department of Fisheries, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), launched Malawi’s National Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (2023-2030). In short, it is referred to as the National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF). The launch took place on 31^st October 2023 in Salima, which brought together over 60 participants from small-scale fishing communities, government departments, academia and other development partners.

Speaking during the launch, the Guest of Honour, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr. Yusuf Mkungula stated that Malawi’s NPOA-SSF is a comprehensive framework for establishing governance structures and providing implementation guidance for Malawi’s small-scale fisheries sector.

“The National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries provides guidance on strategic approaches, key actions and monitoring procedures that relevant stakeholders in the small-scale fisheries sector have to collaboratively undertake to improve the sector.”

The FAO Malawi representative, Senior Project Officer, Mr. Paulo Dias expressed that Malawi is among the few countries in Africa implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines) towards poverty eradication and for achieving food security. He stated that the formulation of Malawi’s NPOA-SSF is a prompt response to the national launch of the SSF Guidelines in Malawi in April 2021.  

From Left to Right: Prof Austin Mthetiwa, Chair for NPOA-SSF National Task Team; Dr Yusuf Mkungula, Principal Secretary, Malawi Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change; Mr Paulo Dias, Senior Project Officer, FAO Malawi; and Dr. Hastings Zidana, Director, Malawi Department of Fisheries.

“NPOA-SSF promotes a human-rights-based approach which goes beyond the fisheries value chain to address gender, social development, employment, climate change, disaster risks and trade”, said Dias.

During the NPOA-SSF development process, led by a National Task Team (NTT), stakeholder consultations across various locations in Malawi were undertaken with key stakeholders in Malawi’s small-scale fisheries sector. These were namely small-scale fishers and fish workers such as small-scale fishing communities and/or their organizations or representatives, relevant government departments, academia and others. This was to importantly ensure that current key priorities and challenges faced by the small-scale fisheries sector were identified for inclusion and implementation under the 7-year action plan.

Also launched at the special event was Malawi’s new National Gender, HIV and AIDS Strategy for the Fisheries Sector (2023-2030). “The Gender, HIV and AIDS strategy will help in importantly addressing gender inequalities that exist within the entire fisheries sector”, said Mkungula.

Mkungula further expressed his appreciation to FAO Malawi for supporting the development of the two strategic documents that will facilitate various interventions and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. He however lamented that despite the small-scale fisheries sector contributing to over 90% of Malawi’s total fish landings, the sector has remained unrecognized for a long time.

“Small-scale fisheries provide a crucial role in supporting livelihoods in most fishing communities, including provision of both direct and indirect employment. Women make up at least 60% of the entire workforce in fisheries post-harvest activities, hence the documents are crucial in safeguarding the rights of women against any forms of exploitation and prevent further spread of HIV/AIDS. Further, they will strengthen research, learning, knowledge sharing and facilitate the implementation of ecosystem fisheries management”, added Mkungula. 

Both the National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries and the National Gender, HIV and AIDS Strategy have been developed with support from FAO as part of the Small-Scale Fisheries Norad funded through the FAO’s Flexible Voluntary contribution (FVC) Mechanism. Project. A total of 100 copies of the NPOA and 100 copies of the abridged version of the NPOA, have been printed and to be distributed across the country. Both documents will be published on the Malawi Ministry of Natural Resource and Climate Change website.

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