US $34 million from UK for FAO Fisheries Programme

Britain has agreed to contribute US $34 million to an FAO programme aimed at reducing poverty in fishing communities in 24 African countries, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported on Monday. The FAO, which will manage the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme, said it was designed to enable poor coastal and inland communities participate more directly in fisheries planning and management. “The five-year programme will work through low-cost, small-scale and poverty-focused initiatives, some of which may later develop into pilot-project proposals to address subregional problems,” FAO said. Participating countries are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Ctte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. In these countries, some 5.3 million poor people are directly employed in artisanal fishing, according to the FAO.