Press release number: IFAD 16/02

Rome, 20 February 2002 – A USD 26 million project in the Republic of Benin, the ‘Participatory Artisanal Fisheries Development Support Programme’ will receive a USD 10 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). A loan agreement was signed today at the Fund, by His Excellency, Mr. Theophile Nata, Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Benin and Mr. Lennart Båge, President of IFAD.

The programme will cover all the fisheries resources of the country, with special emphasis on the heavily degraded wetlands and ten major lakes of the south, five minor lakes and a total of 206 agropastoral reservoirs in the centre and north. The beneficiaries comprise about 600 000 people in about 450 villages in the fisheries zones and about 80 fishing camps along the coast; this includes poor fisherfolk households (300 000) and approximately 4000 women who process and trade in fish using wood-smoking methods that are both wasteful and dangerous. In 1994 the population of the inland fisheries zones in the south, were identified as the poorest of the country’s poor and since then their poverty has increased due to serious overfishing and lack of alternative sources of livelihood.

Marine and inland fish stocks in southern Benin are at risk from overfishing as in an effort to maintain their incomes, fishermen are resorting to these damaging methods. In addition, the natural resource base of inland waters is threatened by organic, chemical and vegetal pollution, erosion and silting up due to river and lagoon bank deforestation. Landings from the lagoons are estimated to have declined by one third over the past twenty years; fish sizes have dwindled and immature fish now account for more than 90% of the catch.

The Participatory Artisanal Fisheries Development Support Programme’s overall development goal is to help alleviate the poverty of the poorest fisherfolk families living from fishing, fish process and fish selling, focusing on assisting the women who play an important role in shore based activities. This goal will be pursued by laying the ground for environmentally sound use of fisheries resources on which the poorest people of the country depend. Access to financial services will be improved through support to existing decentralized financial systems and strong emphasis will be placed on capacity building as a tool for promoting the empowerment of fishing communities, their organizations and leaders.

Beneficiaries will be able to participate in the programme as it will combine the sustainable livelihoods approach (which places people at the centre of the development process) with the community-based natural resources management approach. Furthermore, they will also benefit from support in identifying and undertaking alternative economic activities such as fish farming, small animal husbandry, vegetable growing and handicrafts.

To date, IFAD has financed eight projects in Benin for a total commitment of USD 91 million. This programme will be co-financed by the African Development Bank and Decentralized Financial Institutions.

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IFAD is a specialised agency of the United Nations with the specific mandate of combating hunger and poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978 IFAD has financed 603 projects in 115 recipient countries and in the West Bank and Gaza for a total commitment of approximately USD 7.3 billion in loans and grants. Through these projects, about 250 million rural people have had a chance to move out of poverty. IFAD makes the greater part of its resources available available to low-income countries on very favorable terms, with up to 40 years for repayment and including a grace period of up to ten years and a service charge of 0.75% per year.