As the world moves to protect oceans, we must also protect small-scale fishers
As the world welcomes the historic UN agreement to legally protect high seas, we must also ensure that small-scale fishers continue to be protected.
Richard Abila is the Senior Technical Specialist in Fisheries and Aquaculture at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). To enhance nutrition and reduce rural poverty, Abila contributes authoritative technical knowledge to the design, development, implementation and monitoring of the Fund’s country-level, regional and global programmes in fisheries and aquaculture.
Abila has over 25 years of experience, spanning inland freshwater and coastal marine systems, working in fisheries and aquaculture research, management and development programmes. Before joining the Fund, he worked with FCG International Ltd and CARDNO Emerging Markets Ltd. on a fisheries and aquaculture development programme in Zambia. His earlier work in East Africa involved fisheries research, management and development mostly in Lake Victoria working with riparian government institutions and the private sector in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Abila holds a PhD in Fisheries from the University of Hull, United Kingdom, and an MSc in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He has attended several international post-graduate certificate training courses in fisheries and aquaculture related fields.