The African Fisheries Reform Mechanism (AFRM), is the guidelines for fisheries policy and governance reform that strategically and comprehensively transforms African Fisheries – sustainable management; rational utilization and visionary development. It is an integral part of the Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
This responds directly to a call from the first Conference of African Ministers for Fisheries and Aquaculture (CAMFA 2010) for strategic partnerships and the dissemination of best practice in fisheries at the regional level as a means towards raising the need for wide ranging African fisheries policy and governance reforms.
The African Fisheries Reform Mechanism (AFRM) was developed in 2014, in consultation with partners (World bank, FAO, the NPCA-NEPAD, University of Greenwich, RECS, RFBs etc), to create a new, coherent, AU-based regional partnership platform - with the objective of facilitating the development, adoption and implementation of reforms in fishery governance and management that would contribute towards transforming Africa’s fisheries from overexploitation and overcapitalization towards environmental, economic and social sustainability.
The AFRM serves mainly as a platform for broad-based consultation to facilitate the Coordination and coherence in fisheries and aquaculture policies, management measures; relevant especially for shared or transboundary fisheries and aquaculture resources; Information sharing; Knowledge generation for evident-based decision making; Advocacy; informed and participatory Policy development; Monitoring progress of implementations of AU Policy Organs’ decisions; and Resources mobilization for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development in Africa.
This presentation will illustrate how AFRM has been used to mobilise resource and stakeholders to promote the sustainable development of aquaculture coherently across the continent.