Food and income-based compensation scheme for fishers
To support the overall hilsa fishery management plan, food grain compensation or training on alternative income-generation is provided to households directly impacted by hilsa fishing bans. Households receive either a monthly ration of rice throughout the long (four-month) fishing ban period, or they receive training and materials to help them diversify their income. If in receipt of the latter (referred to as AIGA – alternative income-generating activities), households are typically not entitled to rice compensation. Under AIGA, training offered includes livestock rearing, sewing, agriculture and net-mending.
Both the food grain and the AIGA schemes are government schemes which were already established before the fisheries scheme, meaning these schemes could be readily linked to the fisheries scheme.
Because the food grain and AIGA schemes pre-date the national fishery management plan, neither were necessarily well-suited to addressing the complexities of fishing-based livelihoods
Households receiving AIGA were generally not entitled to food grain, and uptake for the AIGA scheme was very low – in around 2014 only some 0.5% of households received this kind of support
Ensuring participation from the outset of compensation scheme design will help to address this issue by ensuring local needs and wants are accounted for
Many non-monetary benefits and costs, including opportunity costs, can be very difficult to account for and value
Each year there is a nationwide ban on catching, selling, transporting, marketing or possessing juvenile hilsa fish from 1st of November – 30thJune, 2-3 months complete ban on all kind of fishing including juvenile hilsa target species in 5 sanctuary areas (river stretches) in the major hilsa nursery ground and an additional short ban of 15 days in September/October at four hilsa spawning locations. This is to allow for protection of hilsa fish stock and uninterrupted spawning. Boat rallies are used to raise awareness and support for the fishing bans, as well as mass media, leaflets and posters explaining the importance of hilsa conservation.
The central government must have the will and resources to be able to introduce a nationwide scheme such as this – in Bangladesh there exists a raft of acts providing the legal framework to support hilsa fishery management
For the fishing ban to be effectively enforced, there must be good coordination between any central government bodies with jurisdiction over fisheries
Good quality of ecological baseline data on spawning is an essential requirement for developing an appropriate fishing ban schedule
Illegal juvenile hilsa fishing hasincreased since 2011; a major reason for this is the lack of resources available to support ban enforcement operations at night. Corruption (bribery) also hindered ban enforcement. Such issues damage the perceived legitimacy of the entire fisheries management scheme
Decentralisation and devolvement of management and magistracy powers could potentially alleviate such issues
Lack of equipment and supplies, such as boats and food, inhibit the capacity of staff to carry out enforcement activities even during the day
There is a sense that some of the costs and benefits of the fisheries management plan are not distributed fairly: for example, it is perceived that fishers in bordering countries benefit from the increase in fish stock that result from fishing bans that impact only Bangladeshi fishers
Over the last decade, the development of Organic Action Plans (OAPs) has gained momentum as a mechanism for achieving a more integrated approach to organic policy-making at the European level. However, the effectiveness and continuity of OAPs can vary significantly from country to country. Denmark is a leading example and a source of inspiration worldwide, both in the scope and innovative approach of its organic policy. Beyond its holistic set of measures, a highly transferable aspect is definitely also the intensive policy development process that especially saw the involvement of all stakeholders, including NGOs. Denmark is exemplary by strengthening the principles of organic farming and further incorporating them into everyday farming practices.
An intensive policy development process that consulted with all relevant stakeholders was key.
Holistic approach to organic policy-making, including innovative push and pull measures.
Policymakers can draw significant conclusions on the importance of long-lasting public-private partnership, participatory design and implementation of the Danish Organic Action Plan.
Ndiob's Mayor Oumar Ba speaking about the Agriculture Development Programme
Municipality of Ndiob
Ndiob’s achievements inspire others to follow its example. In particular, Ndiob’s Mayor is chairing the Network of Green Municipalities and Cities of Senegal (REVES): Some 30 mayors attended its first constitutive meeting held in Ndiob in January 2017, where they adopted a Charter of Green Municipalities and Cities of Senegal. Subsequently, REVES has developed an action plan (Declaration of Mékhé) that resulted in: 1. Capacity-building activities for mayors on agroecology and biosecurity (GMOs), e.g. two workshops were organised in 2017 with the technical support of ENDA PRONAT in the communities of Mékhé and Dramé Escale, and 2. Implementation of the agro-ecological vision of rural development in a few pilot municipalities, including that of the Mayor of Ndiob (Thiallé and Soumnane). Ndiob inspired other communities to join REVES which has become a platform for exchange of experience and methods.
REVES is a partner of the NGO ENDA PRONAT, which lends vital support, expertise and advice. Today, Ndiob municipality is networking and exchanging experiences and methods with 40 other cities and green and ecological communities in Senegal who joined of REVES inspired by Ndiob work.
Thanks to networking and setting common goals, agroecology is also better presented to stakeholders in Dakar. In 2018, the REVES co-organized with ENDA PRONAT, the National Federation of Organic Agriculture (FENAB) and the UCAD the 2nd edition of the Agroecology Days in February 2018 at the Place du Souvenir Africain in Dakar. These days were closed by the “Night of Agroecology” at the Daniel Sorano Theater, with a live broadcast of the debates at 2STV, sponsored by the Minister of Livestock and Animal Production Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye and attended by more than 1,500 people (parliamentarians, members of the Economic and Social Economic Council, researchers, civil society organizations, farmers’ organisations). In an interview the Minister of Agriculture confirmed the Government’s interest in promoting agroecology, an essential lever for sustainable development of the sector from a safety perspective.
