Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sostenibilidad

Just another web-blogs Sites site

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Agriculture and Food Security
    • Climate change
    • Ecosystems and Biodiversity
    • Environmental and Social Safeguards
    • Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes
    • Institutionality
    • Responsible Production and Consumption
  • Authors
  • English

Supporting fishers’ associations in Haiti: Lessons learned and future perspectives

October 14, 2021 por Albaret Geraud - Elettra Legovini Leave a Comment


Featured in a previous post, the Ministry of Agriculture of Haiti (MARNDR) has been implementing the Artisanal Fisheries Development Program (AFDP) in the South-East, South, and Grand’Anse departments since 2015. The Program, funded by the Government of Haiti (US$ 1.5 million) and the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) grant of US$ 15 million, aims to sustainably improve Haitian fishers’ incomes and to provide them with immediate productivity boost while alleviating the pressure on coastal fish stocks.

Last time we turned the spotlight on some fundamental questions and hoped to learn more as the program unfolded, between 2015 and mid-2021, the 78 participating associations received as many as 321 engines, 103 boats, 495 coolers, 85 freezers, 440 life jackets, 28 artisanal fishing aggregating devices (FADs), 50 FAD fishing kits and 158 GPS devices. After a couple of years and an internal evaluation[1] later, involving several members (881 members, 541 of whom are women) of the associations participating in the co-financing scheme, we can go back to the original questions and share some important insights and lessons learned.

What are the program’s impacts on key variables such as productivity, averted losses, and food security?

Over half of the association members in the three departments (and the overwhelming majority in the South-East department) saw their catches increase since the distribution of the new fishing equipment; an equivalent proportion declared that losses have decreased, particularly thanks to the storage and refrigerating equipment. Importantly, the additional catches have translated to higher sales of sea products (as reported by no less than 88% in all three departments). Between 80% and the totality of the respondents managed to save time or money, while between 90% and 95% feel more food secure. These findings illustrate the socio-economic relevance of this support mechanism. To further increase its relevance and impacts, findings show that the equipment menu should incorporate a wider range of coolers (more in number and larger in size), Fishing Aggregating Devices (FADs), and other hard-to-come-by equipment (such as fishing line and nets).

How can the program be more inclusive, especially regarding women and the youth?

All in all, there were few gender differences when it comes to training. However, focus groups have shown that younger participants have limited interest in picking up fishing for a living. Fishing does not seem to be socially valued and is therefore unattractive among young people, more prone to look for other, seemingly more profitable livelihoods. The co-financing mechanism has allowed associations to acquire modern equipment that appears to have boosted the sector’s attractiveness in the eyes of young people. Zooming again on the gender dimension, women had hoped to receive credit as part of the support, particularly to develop their fish processing and sales activities. However, credit was not part of the mechanism. The latter largely focused on fishing equipment (boats and engines), for which demand is low among women. However, women indirectly benefitted from the support because higher catches at sea translated to higher sales by the fish merchants (mostly women). Coolers are an excellent resource for the merchants as they keep the fish refrigerated, but scarce ice supplies limit their use. Dryers were not part of the equipment menu but were found to be promising items to add to future technology menus as they are pivotal to women’s post-fishing activities.

How to ensure proper maintenance, so as to extend equipment life?

Improper handling or storage of equipment is considered a significant issue by at least 20% of the associations’ members. These practices may, with time, limit the benefits to be reaped from the mechanism. Incorrect handling is mainly due to a lack of technical capacity or know-how and respondents are unanimous that technical training on the use of equipment would be useful. At the very least an equipment manual may be availed and there is consensus on the need to further strengthen the associations’ skills in the maintenance and use of equipment – even more so for boat engines. Although in varying degrees, the perception that it is hard to find spare parts and consumables is widespread (from 60% in the South-East to 80% in the South).

How to ensure equipment is delivered in a timely manner?

The time lag between the payment of the matching amount by the associations and the delivery of the equipment can be significant. These delays affect the programs’ operations and may generate frustration and erode trust among the beneficiaries. The program team has been working with suppliers to accelerate the processes from contract signature to delivery, but procurement procedures are naturally lengthy. In other cases, the speed of delivery depended on how reactive the associations were and how rapidly they could put together the financial counterpart.

Looking ahead

The co-financing mechanism made it possible to strengthen food security and incomes. There is a margin for improvement in terms of appropriation, especially by women, and a divide exists between the youth and fishing. In addition to making future co-financing mechanisms more inclusive, there is a strong need to make them more sustainable as well. Technical training on the use of the equipment needs to be provided systematically, or the benefits might be short-lived. Equipment use is clearly only one part of the story; fishers need to be trained and sensitized as to the risks of fisheries and biodiversity depletion. Additionally, in future phases or in similar programs, the equipment menu may need to be extended and updated. The program’s take-aways are extremely relevant at a time when future operations to be implemented by the MARNDR are being designed.


[1] An internal evaluation of the matching grant scheme took place between 2020 and 2021. It consisted of a quantitative survey reaching 881 members of the concerned associations. Of these, 541 were women. Results from the quantitative survey were complemented by a series of focus groups with individuals selected from the same sample.


Photo credits: shutterstock


Filed Under: Agriculture and Food Security, Sin categorizar

Albaret Geraud

Géraud is a natural resources management and protected areas specialist with 9 years of experience in developing and implementing strategies to improve environmental performance and governance in developing countries, particularly in Small Islands Developing States. He started his career as an environmental consultant working mainly on environmental and climate governance in the Indian Ocean Region with regional, national and local authorities. Before joining the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), he worked for the German Cooperation (GIZ) as an environmental advisor to the Ministry of Environment of Haiti in order to support the development and management of the National Protected Areas system. He is currently working as a Natural Resources Management specialist for the Environment, Rural Development and Disaster Risk Management Division of the IADB in Haiti and the Dominican Republic where he designs and manages operations that focus on integrating natural capital into productive sectors such as fisheries, agriculture and tourism.

Elettra Legovini

Elettra is a consultant to the IDB’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and impact evaluation portfolio in the Agriculture and Rural Development sector in Haiti. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Warwick University and a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University. Elettra es consultora de la cartera de monitoreo y evaluación (M&E) y evaluación de impacto del BID en el sector de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural en Haití. Tiene una licenciatura en Estudios Internacionales de la Universidad de Warwick y una Maestría en Asuntos Internacionales de Sciences Po Paris y la Universidad de Columbia.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

SEARCH

Sustainability

This blog is a space to reflect about the challenges, opportunities and the progress made by Latin American and Caribbean countries on the path towards the region’s sustainable development.

SIMILAR POSTS

  • An innovative approach to support fishers’ associations in Haiti: moving from grants to co-financing!
  • Improving artisanal marine fisheries in Haiti
  • Will Peru have enough seafood in 50 years? The reason for sustainable fishing
  • Improving Food Security through Women’s Empowerment
  • Where Does your Fish Come From?

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Derechos de autor © 2025 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    x
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT