Strategic Response to HIV/AIDS in Fishery Communities in Africa

Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea

The overall goal of this project was to enhance the contribution of the fisheries sector to poverty alleviation and food security through reduced HIV/AIDS vulnerability in fishing and fish trade communities in Africa.The grant's proceeds contributed to strengthen community resistance and increase access to prevention of chronic and infectious diseases, to improve exchange and effective synergy in implementing thorough exchange mechanisms and collaboration between fisheries, health sector, national and regional stakeholders and to increase investments for economic opportunities. A joint FAO-WorldFish Center programme on HIV/AIDS and fisheries has been implemented in West, Central, Southern and East Africa since 2007. The programme has documented knowledge, attitudes and practices and tested regional responses in two coastal regions of West Africa, where there is significant mobility and migration, and in the Lake Chad basin, a huge fisheries economy where the total estimated yearly value of the fish handled is USD 54 million. OFID extended a grant in 2011 to support the programme scale up its strategic responses. The programme continued to implement approaches for the mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS in fishing communities. Key target groups for the programme were men, women and youth and mobile and migrating populations involved in the fisheries sector in coastal communities in the Lagos Abidjan Corridor, in the Central African Congo Basin and in the Chad Basin. The programme aimed to establish effective cross-sectoral linkages between the fisheries departments, Regional Fisheries Organizations (RFOs) and the health sector. By acting both on reproductive health and socio-economic issues, the programme had an impact upon HIV/AIDS susceptibility and vulnerability. The project delivered outputs in three areas: Output 1: Strengthened community resilience and resistance and increased access to prevention of chronic and infectious diseases affecting productivity. Under this output, the project aimed to ensure that 25 percent of target communities were reached by national community responses. The results achieved under this output are outlined below: - Result 1: Mobile and migrating groups in fishing communities on the Lagos-Abidjan transport corridor have access to services of prevention, testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS. - Result 2: National community responses reach over 25 percent of coastal fishing communities. - Result 3: Mobile and migrating groups in fishing communities on the Atlantic coast of the Central Africa Corridor have access to services of prevention, testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS and collaboration between the fisheries departments of Cameroon, the Congo and Gabon is strengthened. - Result 4: Increased resilience of specific highly vulnerable groups through interventions on livelihood diversification is documented and available to stakeholders. Output 2: Improved integration and effective synergy in implementation through mechanisms of exchange and collaboration between the fisheries and health sectors, national and regional stakeholders The results achieved under this output are outlined below. - Result 5: Coherent coordinated and simultaneous “Licence Plus” and “Value Chain Plus” approaches implemented in the target corridors and in the Lake Chad basin. - Result 6: Functional “Regional Consultative Inter Agency” (RCIA) meeting group developed and submitted to donors for investment plans. Output 3: Increased investments through funding of plans formulated on the basis of impact monitoring and shared with key stakeholders. The result achieved under this output is outlined below: - Result 7: An efficient monitoring system is set up and effects and impact will be used to document and prepare publications and reports to be shared and presented to key stakeholders and agencies in the region.