The essential role that women play in improving food security, and the development of international guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries being led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) were the highlights of discussion at a recent conference in Adidjan, Ivory Coast.
The conference was held at the Abidjan Palace of Culture on 21 November, World Fisheries Day. Titled Improving the Contribution Artisanal Fisheries to Food Security: The Role of Women, it was organized by the African Confederation of Organizations of Professional Artisanal Fishworkers (CAOPA) in collaboration with the National Fisheries Federation of Ivory Coast (FENACOPECI), and with the participation of the Journalists’ Network for Responsible Fisheries (REJOPRAO), professional artisanal fishworkers from 16 African countries, and representatives from international NGOs.
A statement adopted at the end of the conference called on governments and subregional, regional and multilateral organizations to:
enable the free circulation of fishery products between States;
reduce and simplify customs formalities;
establish, develop and arrange adequate infrastructure;
organize adequate landing sites;
provide finance to women processors and petty traders under fair arrangements; and
involve women in decision-taking processes.
The Abidjan Statement further called on those States that have not already done so to ratify the Convention for International Road Transport (IRT/TIR) in order to improve the quality of the region’s products.
With regards to the FAO-led process to develop International Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries, it called on States to:
participate actively in the Technical Consultations due to take place at FAO in Rome in February 2013;
include professionals from the artisanal fisheries sector in the official delegations for these Technical Consultations;
request that the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) establish special modalities that allow for the participation of civil society organizations in the Technical Consultations; and
engage in finalizing the Guidelines scheduled for 2014 so as to ensure that they fully reflect the specific realities of artisanal fisheries.