The nuts and bolts of food security through aquaculture on the Sunshine Coast were under intense focus at a government planning meeting in East London last week.
Keagan Hailly, of Operation Phakisa’s aquaculture delivery unit, was a key presenter at the strategy session, where people got down to mapping out implementation of the aquaculture and fisheries project.
It is the brainchild of the Eastern Cape’s rural development and agrarian reform department, which hosted the meeting at the EL Industrial Development Agency.
Hailly says the main strategic focus areas that will make things work include:
• Improved access to land and water sites;
• Diversity in research and development projects;
• Development finance;
• Market access;
• Skills development and capacity building;
• Co-ordination of technical advice; and
• Support for small-scale aquaculture projects.
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF), a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, international waters and sustainable management, has a key role to play.
It has scrutinised Phakisa’s plan to remodel aquaculture and so far the project has the GEF’s semi-approval, with a few provisos. “We will have to wait until next year for the final go-ahead,” Hailly said.
The GEF is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution, as well as supporting land and ocean health.
Its financing enables developing countries to address complex challenges and work towards international environmental goals.
A key area for the GEF is empowerment of women and enabling them to play a leading role in projects.
Its 183 member countries work with other international institutions, organisations and the private sector, addressing global environmental issues.
Since its inception in 1991, the GEF has provided more than $12.5bn (R217.8bn) in grants and leveraged over $58bn (R1.01 trillion) in co-financing for thousands of projects in developing countries.
The World Bank serves as trustee.
“If it happens and the early GEF enthusiasm turns into a ‘yes’, it will be a four- to-five-year project that will transform aquaculture in SA,” Hailly said.
GEF support could mean an inflow of development funds in the region of about R90m.
So, for last week’s meeting, key questions were on how to get small projects up and running that meet these criteria to bring in some of the R90m.
These included:
• Finalisation of proposed plans for acceptance;
• Workable implementation in four to five years; and
• Co-funding of the projects and agreeing on top-up fees from DRDAR.
With 800km of coastline, the province’s plan, once formulated and agreed on, will guide a strategy aimed at ensuring that communities along the coast, as well as a few inland water projects, will be assisted in eradicating poverty and building sustainability through economic development.
The GEF intervention will be in its eighth phase, known as GEF-8. It is a blended finance programme, formally approved, though with a few areas still to be finalised, hopefully at the 63rd GEF council meeting.
Initiative 8 is a preferential procurement points system where scores are weighted to favour previously marginalised individuals or communities for those seeking to partner with government institutions in the procurement of aquaculture products.
The government recently expanded the mandate for fisheries management by adding freshwater and inland fisheries, as well as aquaculture, to the department’s existing parameters.
The idea is to change the current zeitgeist, where fish is well down the nation’s protein ladder compared to red meat.
If more people, especially the youth, ate more fish or other aquaculture products, SA would have a far healthier population, Hailly said.
Plus, if aquaculture is expanded it could become a leading financial contributor to SA’s coffers.
Job creation possibilities are huge, especially in small coastal towns.
Any strategic focus on implementation should improve access to land and water sites that can host infrastructure for the GEF-8 plan.
One site earmarked for aquaculture is Hamburg village between East London and Port Alfred, where a multispecies incubator will cultivate sea urchins, oysters and seaweed.
Coega and Qolora will host multipurpose hatcheries.
Sometimes, availability of land is a stumbling point. This is not an issue here.
There is 30ha in the ELIDZ, existing fisheries at Coega, near Gqeberha, have 440ha and Algoa Bay has 1113ha.
There is a plan to allow coastal fishermen to harvest abalone as part of their fishing licence.
The abalone population should be protected by a project that will sow abalone sprats into suitable areas.
A 100km strip of coast between Haga-Haga and Hamburg may be used by artisanal fisher folk.
The GEF-8 and Eastern Cape rural development and agrarian reform plan includes training people in the arts of aquaculture, finalising feasibility studies and developing lasting projects that will employ local people and help them break free of generational poverty traps, Hailly said.
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