INFOPECHE to be revitalized with FAO support
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Regional Office for Africa, is supporting the process of revitalizing the Intergovernmental Organization for Information and Cooperation on the Marketing of Fishery Products (INFOPÊCHE), with a view to making it a genuine development tool for the benefit of its 18 member states and other countries that express the need.
To this end, a workshop was held on May 6-7 2024 in the seaside town of Grand-Bassam, bringing together more than a dozen experts from the fishing industry.
N’Diaga Gueye, Senior Fisheries Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Africa explained that the workshop was organized to encourage reflection on the ability of INFOPÊCHE to achieve its mandate with a view to giving it a new lease of life. “INFOPÊCHE was set up by the FAO in 1984. So, in a way, it’s our ‘baby’,” he said.
Helguile Shep, Director of INFOPÊCHE, welcomed the FAO initiative, which he said would enable his organization to emerge stronger. “Our organization is going through difficult times. We are unable to carry out our activities due to a lack of resources. With an annual operating need of 150 million euros, we’re having trouble mobilizing these resources. Another example is that our organization was in a transition phase from 2023 to 2024. In this phase, activities have been identified for a total budget of around 400 million. Barely 30 percent has been allocated by member states,” he said.
Opening the workshop, FAO Representative in Côte d’Ivoire Attaher Maiga praised the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s efforts to maintain the intergovernmental organization’s activities. “I hope that, under the leadership of Côte d’Ivoire, member states will support the necessary reforms, involving the private sector and learning from the experiences of other Info networks set up by FAO. By doing so, we will benefit from the best that is being done here and elsewhere,” he said.
INFOPECHE’s mission is, among other things, to provide information on the markets for fishery products, in particular outlets and supply prospects inside and outside Africa; to help in the search for new products and the promotion of little-consumed species; and to provide marketing training to staff of administrations and institutions in the fishing industry.
The organization’s Board of Directors is chaired by Sidi Tiémoko Touré, Minister of Animal and Fisheries Resources of Côte d’Ivoire.
FAO
