La Cuvette Artisanal Fisheries Project

La Cuvette Artisanal Fisheries Project

The project was designed to support poor artisanal fishers in 70 villages scattered throughout the remote and isolated region of Cuvette by providing marketing and extension assistance. Cuvette, in the center of the Congo, is a vast area defined by two major river systems. Although it has a high potential for producing river fish, the fishers’ incomes were low. The health situation in the project area was very poor, and there were no roads. Canoes were the principal means of transport.

The aims of the project were to assist in opening up and developing the region, and to raise the living standards of fisher families and improve income-generating opportunities.

Project activities included:

• providing extension services and setting up fishing community centres and fishers’ groups
• improving the collection system so that fishers could count on regular and efficient collection of their product (mainly smoked fish)
• establishing a base and workshop at Mossakam, the largest fishing community, and a processing facility in Brazzaville
• providing training and technical assistance, and support for project management

The project established a parastatal marketing and extension agency in the region. It introduced fishers to a fish drying and salting technique that was previously unknown in the region and was an alternative to fish smoking, which has negative effects on the environment and is time-consuming for the women who do it. The project also introduced a new technique for improving fishing nets, and it supported the establishment of a branch of MUCODEC.

Source: IFAD