Occasional Paper

A Decade of Fisheries Co-Management in Africa: Going Back to the Roots? Empowering Fishing Communities? Or just an Illusion?

“This paper provides an overview of co-management in Africa and the historical, political and paradigmatic reasons for the
shift. The historical context is important when analysing the performance of the regime. The main reasons why comanagement
is being increasingly adopted in Africa are
explained by analysing the objectives hereof. The paper evaluates what is meant by co-management in the African context using the variety of types of user involvement in practice and the standard continuum of possible arrangements under the co-management regime. Next, it will look at how comanagement is being implemented, including whether it is achieving the objectives it is supposed to achieve. The final section will discuss and draw some lessons from the comanagement experience on the continent.”