The fisheries sub-sector encompasses a wide range of activities (e.g. fishing, processing, distribution, marketing, construction and maintenance of vessels), different types of natural resources (e.g. deep sea, coastal waters, inland waters, aquaculture) and a great diversity of
stakeholders (e.g. industrial fishers, artisanal fishers, processors and traders). Many of these elements are important for poverty reduction.

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The Blessing of the Commons: Small-Scale Fisheries, Community Property Rights, and Coastal Natural Assets

A poverty profile consists of the characterization, the localization, the enumeration and the description of groups of poor people. Such groups are defined according to the livelihood system they enact. The livelihood system includes the capabilities, the material and non-material resources, and the activities required for a means of living. The household constitutes the entry point and the principal unit of analysis.

Because of the importance of oceans in the global economy and climate system, lasting and sustainable development will not be achieved without healthy coasts and oceans. Well-managed, productive fisheries play a significant role in global economic development, food security, poverty alleviation, trade, and human health. But since the Earth Summit in 1992, most coastal resources have suffered from overuse and degradation.

A problem faced by policy makers and planners who are working towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals and implementing Poverty Reduction Strategies is the lack of information on poverty and the livelihoods of the poor in the post-harvest fisheries sector. Without a systematic and informed approach to the sector it is difficult to know how to respond to the difficulties that the sector faces.

The Expert Consultation was convened by FAO in order to elaborate guidelines on the policies and actions needed to increase the contribution of small-scale fisheries to poverty alleviation and food security. The twenty-fifth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, held in Rome from 24 to 28 February 2003, requested FAO to develop such guidelines as part of its series of technical guidelines on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

This poverty profile exists within a larger pilot project designed to lessen poverty across a number of artisanal fisheries in West Africa by improving institutional links and facilitating the comanagement of natural resources. For each targeted community, a profile was conducted to identify beneficiaries, to understand local definitions of poverty, its distribution, causes, and magnitude, and to provide recommendations for natural resource management.

The “Poverty and Post-Harvest Fish Utilization in Ghana” Project was implemented by IMM Ltd in the UK in partnership with the Directorate of Fisheries in Ghana. The project was funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) through the Post-Harvest Fisheries Research Programme. This briefing note is an output from the Ghana Poverty project. It is designed to briefly inform policy-makers, planners and implementers about key issues concerning the livelihoods of poor people in the fisheries post-harvest sector.

The experience that the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) has accumulated since it was established shows that small-scale fisheries are, on the whole, rarely taken into account in public economic and social development policy. Fisheries policies are typically guided by sectoral approaches, where the human factor is often of negligible importance in decision-making.

There are varying opinions on the impact of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) on developing country economies. There is also widespread concern about the social impact of SAPs, particularly upon the poor.