According to the AfDB, fish products are the main source of animal protein for Ivorians, with an average consumption of around 21kg per capita per year in 2021. The fishing and aquaculture sector accounts for almost 100,000 direct jobs and 750,000 indirect jobs. However, despite growing production, national capacities are still insufficient to meet domestic demand, resulting in substantial imports of fish products (around 80% of requirements). Indeed, the development of the fisheries resources sector is hampered by a number of challenges, foremost among which are the degradation of ecosystem health exacerbated by the impact of climate change, high levels of post-harvest losses, difficulties of market access, and the still embryonic development of aquaculture and the fishing value chain. To overcome these obstacles, the Ivorian government, through the Ministry of Animal and Fisheries Resources (MIRAH), has defined new political and strategic orientations embodied by the National Policy for the Development of Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture in Cote d'Ivoire (PONADEPA 2022-2026), which aims, among other things, to remove the sector's major constraints with a view to achieving a coverage rate of around 70% of the population's consumption needs by 2025.

The project's objective is to increase the contribution of the fisheries and aquaculture sector to local and national economies. This general objective is structured around the following four specific objectives: (i) Improving the governance and sustainable management of maritime, lagoon and inland fisheries; (ii) Developing aquaculture; (iii) Strengthening competitive value chains; and (iv) Improving the climatic and socio-environmental resilience of ecosystems and communities.

The project is national in scope, and its implementation will focus on three main areas of the country: (i) the seafront (including the towns of Abidjan, Jacqueville, Assinie and the departments of San Pedro, Tabou, Grand Bereby, Sassandra, etc.); (ii) inland water bodies and rivers, low-lying areas, artesian wells and flood plains scattered in the central watersheds (departments of Man, Bouake, Sassandra, etc.). ); (ii) continental watercourses, low-lying areas, artesian wells and flood plains in the central watersheds (departments of Man, Bouake, Toumodi, Yamoussoukro, Soubre, Beoumi, and the Kossou and Buyo dam lakes). ProDeCAP interventions also coincide with the economic development clusters focusing on fishing and aquaculture, introduced by MIRAH and known as "Haliopoles". Haliopoles" are multi-regional systems, zoned around the main Ivorian aquatic systems supporting fishing and aquaculture activities, and organized to coherently meet the service and infrastructure needs of these sectors in zones 3, 5, 7 and 8. The project is expected to directly or indirectly benefit all players operating along the targeted value chains, from production to final consumption, via the processing, transport, service provision (inputs, seeds, equipment and materials, training) and fish marketing stages. Beneficiaries will include artisanal fishermen, fish farmers, fishmongers, processors and fishmonger traders, as well as the fish farmers' inter-union. Other beneficiaries are the managers and staff of the MIRAH and partner structures (educational establishments, research stations, institutions responsible for standards and health safety) of the Project, whose human, financial and logistical resources will be strengthened. The total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries expected from the program is estimated at around 700,000 people, half of them women, including 50,000 in aquaculture (5,000 direct) and 650,000 in fishing (65,000 indirect).

AfDB Team Leader:

Ahmed Sheik Khan - Fisheries Officer, AHAI1
Email: h.khan@afdb.org
Website: www.afdb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBÕs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/