BACKGROUND STUDY TOUR OBJECTIVES HOST ORGANIZATIONS

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I. BACKGROUND

The USAID-funded Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project USAIDSFMP implemented by the University of Rhode Island works closely with the Ghana Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development MOFAD, the Fisheries Commission FC and local and international partners to rebuild marine fisheries stocks and catches through adoption of responsible fishing practices. It aims to end overfishing of key stocks important to local food security. More than 100,000 men and women involved in the local fishing industry are expected to benefit from this project. The MOFAD, the FC and Ghanaian civil society organizations led by women and serving women in the sector are championing women’s empowerment in fisheries management and in post-harvest value chain improvements. URICRC and SFMP implementing partners are supporting these efforts. A regional study tour to The Gambia and Senegal, where small scale fisheries, fishing communities and women in the fisheries sector face challenges similar to those in Ghana and where some notable successes have been achieved, was included in the SFMP Year 2 Workplan. The study tour activity contributes to the organizational capacity development IR7, gender IR5 and post harvest IR4 components of the project.

II. STUDY TOUR OBJECTIVES

1. Expose women-led and oriented civil society organizations CSOs to peer organizations with similar missions that have developed successful community-based strategies for sustainable fisheries management and value chain improvements. 2. Expose Government of Ghana Fisheries Commission points of contact for gender and post-harvest to successful strategies for CSOGovernment collaboration for sustainable fisheries management and value chain improvements.

III. HOST ORGANIZATIONS

Under Cooperative Agreements awarded by USAIDWest Africa and USAIDSenegal respectively, The University of Rhode Island has worked since 2009 in The Gambia and since 2011 in Senegal to support the Government, fishing communities and fisheries stakeholders to develop participatory, ecosystem-based co-management plans for sustainable fisheries management. Women and women oriented organizations are key stakeholders in the process and have realized some of the most significant achievements to date. Two of these local organizations hosted the SFMP Study Tour in their respective countries, capitalizing on their expertise and experience and developing their own organizational capacity as resource organizations for the West Africa Region. TRY Oyster Women’s Association, The Gambia The 500 members of the TRY Oyster Women’s Association founded in 2007 in The Gambia, winners of the 2012 UNDP Equator Prize, are mostly low income, uneducated, widowed, middle-aged women who are the sole bread winners for their families. Yet these women have been an integral part of a planning process that led to a gazetted Cockle and Oyster Co- Management Plan for the Tanbi-Wetlands National Park a 6,300 hectare RAMSAR site in 2012. Under this plan, the Government of The Gambia granted TRY exclusive use rights to 2 the oyster and cockle fishery—a first for a women’s group in Africa. During the process, both the women’s lives and the shellfish resources on which they depend have improved. The University of Rhode Island supported TRY and the development and implementation of the Oyster and Cockle co-Management Plan under the USAID-funded Gambia-Senegal Sustainable Fisheries Project USAIDBaNafaa from 2009-2014. Association for Sanitation, Fisheries, Tourism and Environment, Senegal APTE is a non-governmental, non-profit association founded in 2005. APTE is active in the field of sustainable development through actions on sanitation, fishing, tourism and the environment. APTE also conducts studies to provide evidence and advice to support government agencies and NGOs in their planning and decision-making. In this context APTE has developed projects in environmental protection, poverty reduction and illegal immigration on behalf of its partners. APTE’s main partners are the Regional Coastal and Marine Conservation Program for West Africa PRCM, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN, WWF, state services in Senegal and Mauritania, the Italian government and the European Union. APTE is a partner of The University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center on the USAID-funded Project Collaborative Management for a Sustainable Fisheries Future in Senegal USAIDCOMFISH 2011-2016, implementing post-harvest value chain improvement and gender components. With support from APTE under the USAIDCOMFISH project, the women’s fish processors Economic Interest Group EIG in Cayar now operates the first artisanal fish processing center in Senegal to meet international standards and be granted an export agreement with the European Union.

IV. SUMMARY OF KEY THEMES AND LESSONS LEARNED