Since 2018, FAO and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) have developed and are implementing joint and agreed programs as well as work plans in a number of areas including the Aquaculture and Fisheries sectors.

In June this year, SADC Ministers approved the Best Practice Guidelines for Aquaculture Management in the region. In addition to the best practices guidelines, another tool was approved by the SADC at ministerial level, to help member states to monitor the implementation of the SADC Fisheries Protocol.

These tools will be used by member states to monitor progress and actions towards implementation of the regional Protocol on Fisheries which covers a number of the subsectors including Aquaculture, Management and Protection of the Aquatic Environment, Human Resources Development, Trade and Investment and Science and Technology.

In order to further cement the implementation of the Protocol on Fisheries, a high level workshop was recently held in Harare, Zimbabwe. In a speech read on his behalf, the FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, Alain Onibon, said by adopting the Protocol on Fisheries, SADC members, have recognised that there are common interests in that hundreds of millions of their people are dependent on fisheries resources.

"The livelihoods of fishing communities in the SADC region are among the most insecure and vulnerable in the region. The growing population of the region is dependent on its fisheries resources with an overall increasing tendency towards an over-exploited status of marine and inland fisheries resources. Lack of management actions have resulted in an increasing tendency of depletion of resources but also in a tremendous waste of the value and income of these resources to this region. The consequences are most devastating for the poorest communities of the SADC region," said Onibon.

The Permanent Secretary, Mr Muneso Munodawafa paid a courtesy visit to the meeting on its second day and in his address to the meeting emphasised the importance of fish products to food security, nutrition, and the economies of the SADC including Zimbabwe. He said that the work undertaken at this meeting is encouraging and informing priority areas for SADC member states to fast-track domestication and implementation of the SADC Protocol on Fisheries.

SADC members expect the two tools developed with the support of the FAO to reinforce and inform bettered coordination and implementation of their programs in aquaculture and fisheries.

Since June 2019, the members of the SADC are now making collective efforts to monitor the implementation of their regional Protocol on Fisheries. Support from development partners is important, however these investments and planned actions that members are undertaking through their own means and participation in this process are vital in achieving a more sustainable management of the fisheries sectors.

A SADC Protocol Implementation workshop meeting held in Harare, 13 November 2019, marked the start of implementation of monitoring tools for the SADC Protocol on Fisheries and Aquaculture Management Guidelines implementation.

This is enabling the development of better coordinated interventions, partnerships, and actions towards a sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development in the region (both at regional and national levels). Partners such as Advance Africa, the African Centre of Excellence for Fisheries and Aquaculture, and others such as the German Cooperation are cooperating and collaborating with the FAO in supporting SADC interventions now, for 2020 and beyond.