FAO supports Sudan Fisheries and Aquaculture sector

Khartoum 30th January, 2019 -- Sudan has vast marine and inland resources that offer strong potential for fisheries and aquaculture sustainable development and significant opportunities for both public and private investment exist. The country's potential in fish production are yet to be fully explored. The sector contributes to food security, nutrition, livelihoods, and poverty reduction of a large share of households and communities in Sudan, although this is not fully reflected in the national statistics.

The workshop, just closed, was a key milestone to assist the country in preparing a practical, action and investment-oriented Review of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector in 2018, and initiate the preparation of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Investment Plan in 2019, at the request of the Government of Sudan. The objective of this workshop was to ensure that the views, concerns and recommendations of the value chain actors and representatives of the States are duly reflected into the sector review report.

During his opening and closing remarks, Dr Babagana Ahmadu (FAO Representative), reiterated that this FAO support to the Sudan fisheries sector fits under the FAO Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) and the FAO-World Bank-African Development Bank "African Package for Climate-resilient Ocean Economies" partnership. He indicated that other partners are willing to further support the sector under the economic diversification and transformation agenda, applying the Blue Economy concept and approach. He also stressed that that this review and the investment plan will serve the policy and strategic planning of the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 agenda, notably SDG 1, 2, 8 and 14.

Hon. Elsadig Elkhair, State Minister of Animal Resources, in is opening speech on 28th January 2019, thanked FAO for it continuous support to the livestock and fisheries sectors. He emphasized the need to increase the attention and resources allocated to the fisheries sector, and the expressed interests of both domestic and foreign investors for the sector.

Moving forward
The workshop gathered over 80 participants coming from various the Federal level and various States, representing all concerned stakeholders (value chain actors, ministries, research, academia, financial institutions, etc.). It fully met its objectives and the expectations of the participants. Plenary and working group discussions were very rich and efficiently contributed to the revision of the sector review report, as well as the road map for the preparation of the investment plan and identifying pillars and key priority actions to be considered in the investment plan.

In the Workshop Declaration, adopted in plenary on 30th January 2019, the participants recommend that:
• The Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Review be finalized by 31st March 2019, taking into account the outputs of this workshop, and then be published and distributed to all stakeholders;
• The Sudan Fisheries and Aquaculture Investment Plan be prepared under a participatory, inclusive and iterative process involving all stakeholders (value chain actors and their organizations, financial institutions, administrations, academia, research institutions) taking into account the methodology and process that was used for the preparation and validation of the Sudan National Agriculture Investment Plan (2016-2020);
• A multi-stakeholder Steering Committee be established rapidly to spearhead the preparation and validation of the Sudan Fisheries and Aquaculture Investment Plan;
• Call upon the Government of Sudan, the donor community and technical and financial partners of Sudan to provide enhanced support to the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector, including trough assistance for the preparation and validation of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Investment Plan in 2019.