Mapping the degraded areas within Mvai Forest Reserve was an essential first step to identify the extent of encroachment and prioritize restoration efforts. The process involved assessments of the reserve to locate areas impacted by charcoal production, firewood collection, and farming expansion. By 2021, 450 hectares of the forest were confirmed as affected by encroachment activities. This mapping provided a clear view of degradation hotspots and facilitated targeted interventions, forming the foundation for boundary demarcation, enforcement strategies, and community engagement. The mapped data helped the project team and local authorities to understand the scale of degradation and to set measurable targets for restoration and conservation, ensuring that resources and efforts were allocated effectively to the most critical areas.

The formation of the Entarara Community Forest Association (CFA) marked a critical step in managing and conserving the forest through community engagement. WWF facilitated discussions with the seven nearby villages on the benefits of creating a CFA to allow legal and organized community involvement in forest management. By 2023, the CFA was officially formed, with a governance structure and a participatory forest management plan (PFMP) developed in collaboration with the Kenya Forest Service and Kajiado County. The CFA serves as the primary organization responsible for implementing restoration, protection, and community-led activities in the forest. It plays an essential role in mobilizing community members, organizing user groups, and ensuring that forest resources are managed sustainably, offering an inclusive platform for local voices and promoting ownership.

To address the degradation and encroachment of Entarara Forest, the Kajiado County government initiated an area survey and boundary marking in 2018. The entire 23-acre forest was officially surveyed, and processing of beaconing      is underway to underway to determine the official boundaries. This process is crucial in halting unauthorized expansion by neighboring farmers and reclaiming encroached areas. The survey provides legal recognition and clarity over the forest's extent, enabling authorities to enforce protection measures effectively. Boundary marking also facilitates subsequent restoration activities, such as tree planting in previously encroached zones and removing invasive species. This building block established the foundational framework for community engagement, leading to the formation of the Community Forest Association (CFA) and the development of a participatory forest management plan (PFMP).

Community-based approaches refer to strategies that involve local communities in the management and decision-making processes of their natural resources. In the context of fisheries management, these approaches engage local inhabitants in conserving and sustainably managing fish stocks and aquatic ecosystems. This local involvement helps ensure that fishery management practices are culturally appropriate, environmentally sustainable, and economically beneficial, ultimately leading to improved resource management and community well-being. Such approaches are particularly relevant for small-scale fisheries in natural waterbodies, where community livelihoods are closely tied to the health and productivity of aquatic environments.

The community entry process is a systematic method to initiate successful and sustainable fisheries management by focusing on trust and close cooperations between local communities and other stakeholders. The solution outlines the measures required to establish those cooperations and a fisheries management system through the election of a management committee. Furthermore, the approach assists existing or new established committees, such as dam or community fish refuge committees to develop objectives and activities, an effective administration and monitoring and evaluation system.

As a first step, to evaluate the feasibility of a community-led fisheries management system, it is most important to comprehend the current situation in the community regarding the power dynamics between relevant players, such as local government and community representatives. Going to the right location, doing site inspections, and having one-on-one meetings with those stakeholders are part of this phase in the process. These activities can be further supported by conducting workshops or interviews with all stakeholders.

The network was created to improve FLR governance and coordination in Kajiado County. By bringing together 24 member organizations, the network provides a unified platform for planning and resource mobilization. A governance framework was developed, including a constitution, strategic plan (2023–2028), finance policy, and human resources manual. These documents ensure operational transparency and resource efficiency. Regular meetings of the general assembly and secretariat facilitate accountability and trust among members. The governance structure also supports FLR funding integration within County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs), strengthening the alignment of restoration activities with local development goals.

To get a better understanding of the social roles and activities of men and women in the fish value chain, a value chain analysis with the focus on gender inequality can be applied. Based on the analysis a gender strategy can be promoted focusing on the development of a joint pathway towards gender equality.

The analysis takes place on different levels, including both desk reviews as well as field research. The country level includes documentation of leadership positions of men and women, access and ownership of land and water resources, wage deployment in the fish value chain and the access to education.

On a macro level, the review of sector relevant policies and strategies such as the water policy for example and their acknowledgement of a framework for gender mainstreaming and a gender bias is conducted. The results of this review are than compared with the actual implementation of these sector specific policies in activities of institutions, because legislative framework and the practical application of gender mainstreaming in actions may differ.

While the meso level focuses on partner organisations and their support of gender-balanced participation and implementation of gender mainstreaming, the micro level includes a qualitative analysis, concentrating on the target group. Questions include sector specific and business knowledge as well as power relations at both community and household levels. Finally, extension service workers are asked about their specific gender training and knowledge.

For example, the gender analysis conducted by the “Fish for Food Security” (F4F) project in Zambia indicated that men tend to dominate fishing and farming (95 %) while women (90 %) dominate the post-harvest fishing activities, active in retailing, marketing, and selling fish. This leads often to an income gap between male and female traders. Additionally, the analysis helped to identify barriers, socio-norms and power differences hindering women from doing fish farming. It identified key strategic areas for implementation, such as using a household approach for gender mainstreaming to redistribute power relations, integrating gender mainstreaming in already existing interventions at community level, partner organisations capturing more and better gender-related data or having a special gender mainstreaming budget line.
 

When creating a communications campaign about fisheries and aquaculture, it is essential to tailor the messaging to the target audience to ensure maximum impact and engagement. Consider the specific demographics, interests, and knowledge levels of the audience you are trying to reach. Understanding the target audience and traditions surrounding the perception, practices, and consumption of fish, can help in crafting messages that are relatable and impactful. Adapting the messages to the cultural context is also crucial when planning a media campaign, because it ensures that the content resonates with the target audience in a meaningful way.

The “Let Me Tell You” series animations, focusing on the nutrition value of fish, sustainable aquaculture practices, the fish value chain, and WASH elements, is particularly suitable for the rural Zambian context for several reasons. Firstly, the use of animations can effectively convey complex information in a visually engaging and easily understandable format, making it accessible to a wide audience, including those with low literacy levels.

Secondly, targeting school kids with this animation series is a strategic approach to start early sensitization on the importance of fish and the potential of the fisheries and aquaculture sector. By educating children about these topics, they can become advocates for sustainable practices within their families and communities, helping to instill a culture of responsible consumption and environmental stewardship from a young age. Additionally, animations have the ability to capture the attention and interest of children, making the learning process more enjoyable and memorable. This can lead to increased retention of information and a greater likelihood of behaviour change towards more sustainable practices related to fish consumption and the fisheries sector. While the animation is inspired by Zambia’s rural landscape and its communities’ culture and traditions, the series still resonates with other countries in the Southern African region.

Cultural context influences how individuals perceive and interpret messages. Adapting the messaging to align with cultural norms, values, beliefs, and language can enhance the effectiveness of the campaign. By considering these factors, the campaign can avoid misunderstandings, misinterpretations, or unintended offense. This also demonstrates respect for the diversity and uniqueness of different communities, fostering a sense of inclusivity and connection with the audience.
 

Communication campaigns play a vital role in advancing sustainability goals in these sectors. These campaigns educate various stakeholders in the fish value chain, including fishers, fish farmers, retailers, consumers, policymakers, and the general public, about the importance of sustainable practices and the nutritional value of fish. A communication campaign can effectively communicate the value of fish in nutrition, the potential of the fisheries and aquaculture sector to create jobs and income, the challenges facing the industry, and the importance of sustainable practices and innovations. By highlighting these key points, the campaign can foster collaboration among stakeholders in the sector to address common challenges and work towards shared goals. This collaboration can lead to the building of partnerships between government agencies, industry players, non-profit organisations, and other relevant stakeholders to promote sustainable practices, support innovation, and drive economic growth in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Through communication campaigns, stakeholders can be mobilized to participate in training programmes aimed at improving skills, knowledge, and practices in the industry. These campaigns can also mobilize support for initiatives that promote sustainable fisheries management, conservation efforts, and responsible aquaculture practices. By engaging with stakeholders and raising awareness about the importance of these initiatives, communication campaigns can encourage behaviour change in both ­production and consumption patterns, leading to more sustainable practices and a healthier marine ecosystem.
 

To ensure quality and safety in the fish value chain, from catch to consumer, it's vital to consider all steps of the value chain due to potential food safety risks. Implementing hygiene and quality trainings, introducing first sale certificates, and establishing control plans for state institutions are key interventions. A thorough value chain analysis is crucial for identifying improvement areas and require visits to actors and review of hygiene regulations. Based on this analysis, targeted interventions can be identified, ranging from policy to practical actions, involving research enhancement, regulatory support, and capacity development.

The direct actors in the value chain are fishermen, retailers, traders, transporters, warehouse workers and suppliers who are involved in the production, processing, delivery or sale of a product to the consumer. They are the first point of contact when it comes to offering the consumer a safe product of high quality. Accordingly, they represent the target group that needs to be informed about the hygienic handling of products and the aspects of production, storage and transportation deteriorating quality. The implementation of a training plan can strengthen knowledge about hygiene, quality and control practices for the various steps of the value chain.

With so many different actors, there are certain topics that are only important to some while other topics are clearly important for everyone: raising awareness of biochemical processes such as microbes, knowledge about food-borne infections and diseases, maintaining personal hygiene at the workplace, recognizing fresh and spoilt products, using ice to uphold the cold chain or cleaning and disinfecting the workplace and equipment. However, while fishermen, are primarily concerned with the accurate storage and immediate cooling to prevent the deterioration of their catch, processors focus more on the hygienic handling of the processing equipment. Accordingly, it is essential to adapt learning content and teaching methods to the different actors along the value chain, like demonstrations of storage and cooling systems on the fishing boats, or on-the-job trainings concerning proper handling of processing equipment.

Furthermore, didactics must be developed that take into account the experience of fisheries and aquaculture experts. In the context of high illiteracy diagrams, drawings and photographs can be used. Also, the language must be adapted to the target group. In addition, training content can be gathered and summarized in small booklets e.g. guidelines that provide the actors with a long-term option to revise training contents. Here, as with the training content, it is advantageous to adapt the guidelines to the different actors in the value chain, e.g. one guide for fishing, another for processing and so on. By doing this, value chain actors can be addressed directly and do not loose their learning ambition by going through learning content that does not fully affect their work. Finally, the dissemination of the guidelines should be adapted to the local context; not every country has the same media capacities but in addition to handing out printed versions, apps proofed to be a way to spread training contents easily. 

To ensure that the theoretical hygiene and quality trainings become actual practice, it's essential to discuss and confirm understanding with trainees. Using short feedback forms and coaching loops post-training help verify and further improve learning and communication effectiveness. Additionally, evaluating knowledge application, such as willingness to invest in ice for fish storage, is key. Highlighting the long-term benefits, like quality improvement and potential for higher prices, despite initial costs, is crucial for convincing participants of the value.

In addition to understanding, the implementation of training content must also be taken into account. It is important to find out at an early stage which hygiene practices are feasible in the local context. If the purchase price of ice does not justify the additional benefit of fresh quality, no trainee will adhere to the training content. To stay with the example of ice, the question also arises as to whether the necessary infrastructure is in place: are there ice producers, operational cold chains and the necessary equipment? Next to the spread of misinformation, the greatest danger in communicating training content lies in conveying messages that simply cannot be implemented by the local trainees, as they do not have the means to do so or the supporting infrastructure is just too unstable. 

Next to the post-training feedback the effectiveness of the training can be assessed through a second follow-up survey, reflecting on key elements of its content. The timing between these evaluations varies with the topic; for instance, 3-6 months may be sufficient to review acceptance to personal hygiene practices, such as handwashing at work. However, evaluating changes like the use of ice for fish storage on boats might require up to a year, accounting for off-seasons and fishing periods. Even if evaluations are time-consuming, they are crucial to revise, adapt and further develop training materials to meet the needs of the participants.

In terms of the capacity development approach, a training-of-trainers strategy can be implemented in the training plan. Training local knowledge brokers like chairmen of fishing or trading associations or market supervisors in the field of hygiene and quality can have a lasting effect in anchoring this knowledge within partnering institutions and in generating spill-over effects through word of mouth at regional level. Sensitising consumers and buyers are also crucial, to understand the importance of fresh fish. Hardly anyone will take on additional work and costs to create a quality product that is not demanded.

Once roles and responsibilities are allocated, a work plan can be developed, defining concrete steps needed to achieve the MSP’s objectives. The work plan is typically developed collaboratively with input from all stakeholders to ensure that activities are aligned with the platform’s goals and objectives. Clear activities, timelines, and resources should be outlined in the plan. In this step the crucial aspect of funding is addressed as well. Necessary funds and ways to obtain them are elaborated to ensure the smooth implementation of the activities and the overall operation of the MSP. There are several ways how financial resources can be secured, such as through contributions of MSP members, grants and donations, or funding through the government.