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The United States government has made available a total of $17.8 million to support Ghana’s artisanal fishing industry and improve food security.
The funding support is being channelled through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity ( GFRA) five-year (2021-2026) project.
According to the Feed The Future, a U.S. Government’s Hunger and Food Security Initiative, the five-year project aims to mitigate the near collapse of Ghana’s small pelagic fisheries particularly sardines, mackerel and anchovies and to establish a foundation for their ecological recovery.
Currently, the GFRA was working in small fishing villages and landing sites at Tema Azizanya in the Greater Accra Region; Ketu, Denu – Volta Region ; Elmina, Mumford – Central Region ; and Sekondi, Shama, Axim, Half Assini in the Western Region.
“GRFA, according to the Feed the Future Fact sheet made available to the Ghanaian Times on the sidelines of a three-day training seminar for news editors at Elmina in the Central Region, the goal was to reduce fishing pressure, improve small pelagic fisheries management, and encourage ecological sustainability marine biodiversity conservation.
The beneficiary government agency for the support is the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and the Fisheries Commission (MoFAD/FC).
Meanwhile, the Chief of Party of Feed the Future, Heather D’Agnes, said despite the immense contributions of this sector to development, livelihoods, food security and nutrition as well as the challenges, fisheries in Ghana has been underreported in the media space with little attention to its discourse. It is against this backdrop, that his organisation was training selected news editors with the needed knowledge and skills to better understand the fisheries sector and the
challenges confronting it.
The news editors are expected to be provided with new information on fisheries to guide in the publication of editorials on fisheries and increased advocacy for the recovery of the country’s declining fisheries.
Participants are expected to conclude their training with a visit to the Elmina Landing Beach to get to experience the reality of the artisanal fishing sector.
