The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is made of Sixteen (16) Member States namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania (URT), Zambia and Zimbabwe that are bound through the Declaration and Treaty. The Declaration and Treaty recognises the need for stronger regional integration throughout Southern Africa to further development of the region. Further, it mandates the Member States to conclude such Protocols in areas necessary for cooperation. Therefore, the SADC Protocol on Fisheries provides a regional framework for the development and management of fisheries including aquaculture. Through this initiative the region implements the multinational Program for Improving Fisheries Governance and Blue Economy Trade Corridors in SADC Region (PROFISHBLUE Project) that catalyses the development of the aquaculture value chain. This is after the realisation that the region has a huge resource base both inland and marine (Indian and Atlantic) systems for capture fisheries and aquaculture to support the regional human population estimated at over 380 million and towards offsetting a deficit of fish estimated at 1.8million tons in the region. The project is supporting genetic improvement programmes for the indigenous tilapia cluster to improve the growth rate thereby improving productivity and production of aquaculture in the region. The cold chain initiative to reduce post-harvest losses (PHL) along the aquaculture value chain especially by women and youth engaged in processing and trade of fish and fish products is another intervention in the value chain. Out of the total of 8,987 targeted participants, 94% are women and 53% are youths benefiting from the cold storage network. The project also facilitates intra-regional trade through harmonisation of the fish and fishery product standards and enhance adaptive capacity of fish value chains communities against external shocks. A total of 80 Small to Medium Enterprises (70% women) have been trained in business development, product development and trade facilitation both domestic and international markets.
Key words: Treaty, protocol, aquaculture, cold chain, business