From local shores to global waves: the German Agency for International Cooperation's mission to empower Southern Africa’s small-scale fishers

Written by: Christopher Sonten 

German Development Cooperation recognizes the immense potential of small-scale fisheries (SSF) for food and nutrition security, poverty alleviation, sustainable natural resource management and cultural identity. This is why the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and its global program “Sustainable Aquatic Foods” (SAF) (commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); co-funded by the European Union) is committed to strengthening small-scale fisheries (SSF) at global, regional and local level by enhancing their advocacy power, advocating on political platforms and building capacities.

On a global scale, the project co-facilitated the participation of the South African Network for Women in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector (SANWFA) (as part of the African Women Fish Processors and Traders Network (AWFISHNET) at the G20 Ocean Summit in November 2025 in Cape Town, where they presented their policy paper “Empowering Women in Small Scale Aquaculture and Fisheries for Resilient Food Systems”. 

For 2026, SAF plans to empower SSF representatives to shape discussions at the Our Ocean Conference in June in Kenya, the year’s premier event on marine conservation and sustainable use. 

At the regional level, the SAF project closely collaborates with the South African Development Community (SADC) and the Benguela Current Convention (BCC) to integrate SSF into high-level decision-making. In order to design an evidence-based project, the project commissioned a study, which analyzes the SSF actor landscape and connected challenges in Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Identified challenges included lack of adequate infrastructure and equipment, limited access to basic services, markets and broader fishing value chains and conflicts with the industrial fishing sector. The analysis forms the basis of comprehensive capacity building activities which will be rolled-out in the three countries in 2026 (see below). Furthermore, the project will include SSF organizations in the capacity building activities of the SADC Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Communication Center. Additionally, the project enabled the participation of SSF organizations from Namibia, Malawi and South Africa (SANFWA) at the SADC ProFishBlue Dissemination Event in Lusaka in September 2025, to push ambitions for better technical and financial capacity development of women in fish processing and enhanced market access conditions. 

Women group representatives from Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and Madagascar at the ProFishBlue Dissemination Event; Copyright: GIZ; Photographer: Mara Gellner

To accelerate the impact of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) the project is planning a SADC-wide situation analysis on the implementation of the guidelines, which identifies hindering and success factors for their domestication in five SADC countries. Based on this analysis, a regional action plan for implementing the guidelines will be developed.  Connected to this action plan, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will conduct side-assessment of potential marine Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in Angola, Namibia and South Africa and develop a policy paper. One objective is to use the OECM listing as a tool that enables exclusive access areas for SSF organizations.  

Locally, the project enables capacity development programs for ten small-scale fisheries organisations (of which at least fiveare women-led), which will improve their internal organizational and lobbying capacities, ensuring a better inclusion in management decisions. 

Overall, these measures will foster a more inclusive and just regional fisheries management and political landscape which acknowledges the role and strengthens the position of small-scale fishers.