In 2023, the 5th Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE) endorsed the Aquaculture Network for Aquaculture (ANAF) as an African Union (AU) platform of Directors of Aquaculture whose role is to support, facilitate, coordinate and promote the establishment of partnerships, including with Africa’s Non-State Actor Networks, for the coherent implementation of AU policies and strategies to promote sustainable aquaculture development in Africa. The African Union Interafrican Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) serves as ANAF’s Secretariat.
Africa’s blueprint for the sustainable development of its fisheries and aquaculture sector is the Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa (PFRS). The continental mechanism for the implementation of the PFRS is the Africa Fisheries Reform Mechanism (AFRM). The AFRM adopts broad-based all-inclusive participatory to support AU’s Member States, Regional Economic Communities and the private-sector strengthen policy coherence towards enhancing the role of fish in food and nutrition security, livelihood, employment, wealth creation and socio-economic by anchoring on the CAADP and Africa’s regional economic integration agenda.
As Africa’s apex forum where both public and private-sector stakeholders share information and best practices on policy and technologies to promote sustainable aquaculture development in Africa, ANAF consequently undertakes to coordinate and facilitate the development and establishment of public-private partnerships on Sustainable Aquaculture Development with One Voice, under the umbrella of the AFRM. ANAF is therefore organising it 11th Technical Committee meeting at WA25 to consolidate an all-inclusive Africa common Position from the experiences and lessons learned by Africa’s multiple aquaculture stakeholders.