Attachment J-1_Statement of Objectives_GFRA.pdf

ATTACHMENT J-1

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES - FEED THE FUTURE GHANA FISHERIES

RECOVERY ACTIVITY

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Feed the Future Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GFRA) is to mitigate the near-collapse of the small pelagic fisheries sector in Ghana and establish a durable basis for its recovery.

2. TARGET AREA AND POPULATION

The target area for the Feed the Future GFRA is the USAID Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) Zone of Influence (ZOI), principally four coastal regions, which comprise 27 districts, 186 fishing villages, and 302 landing beaches with marine fisheries (see annex 1: GFSS Ghana Country Plan and annex 2: USAID’s Sustainable Fisheries Management Project: Report on the Baseline Survey of Small Pelagic Fishing Households along the Ghana Coast).

Feed the Future GFRA’s target populations are fishers, fish processors and traders, members of fishing communities and fishers associations, officials in the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) and the Fisheries Commission (FC), and university researchers. Among target populations, the welfare of women and youth, aged 15 to 35 years, is especially important.

3. BACKGROUND

3.a PROBLEM STATEMENT

The impending collapse of coastal fisheries, particularly the small pelagic species, poses a risk to nutrition, food security, and livelihoods along the fisheries value chain. Fish provides 60% of animal protein in the diets of coastal and far inland communities. Small pelagic fish are of vital importance for enhancing micronutrient availability and to counter micronutrient deficiencies.

Dried and smoked fish, especially small pelagics, are transported throughout Ghana and exported to neighboring countries. Ghana’s fisheries industry provides direct and indirect employment for

2.5 million people. Over 80 percent of Ghana’s fishers are in the artisanal/small-scale canoe fleet, which catches small pelagic fish and accounts for about 70% of total marine catch. These vital fisheries are in danger of collapse due to severe overfishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU).

Annual landings of small pelagic species in 2019, consisting of round sardinella (Sardinella aurita), flat sardinella (Sardinella maderensis), anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) and mackerel (Scomber colias), declined to the lowest level in the time series between 1990 and 2019. Annual landings of sardinella declined from 100,000 tonnes in the mid-1990s to 19,000 tonnes in 2017 as the artisanal fleet grew from 8,000 canoes in 1990 to 13,650 canoes in 20171. The fleet grew because the open access nature of artisanal fisheries and fuel subsidies encouraged entry. In 2017, the total biomass of small pelagic species declined to 9.6% of the level needed to maintain long-term sustainable exploitation. Fishing mortality has gradually increased in the past 25 years and since 2004 has exceeded the growth rate of key species needed to stabilize the population.

The Scientific and Technical Working Group, an advisory group of various fisheries stakeholders to MoFAD, considers the small pelagic stocks to collectively be in a state of collapse.

IUU fishing practices are rampant across industry segments (artisanal, in-shore, and industrial trawler fleets), with artisanal fishers especially hurt as a result. Growing evidence suggests industrial trawlers are illegally targeting small pelagic fish, often with prohibited types of fishing gear. They flash freeze the catch and transfer it at sea to specially designed canoes that bring it ashore to sell. This illegal catch and transshipment, known as saiko, is an unfair fishing practice that threatens artisanal fisheries. It propels illegal practices among artisanal fishers - such as fishing with the assistance of lights to guide the fish to the surface and illegal net mesh sizes that are smaller than allowed - in a race to catch increasingly scarce fish.

Political influence and insufficient resources have led to weak government oversight of fisheries.

With a meager $12 million budget, MoFAD and the regulator are unable to manage input subsidies, interference in fisheries enforcement, and the regulation of Chinese-owned trawlers licensed under Ghanaian shell companies.2 The constituencies for reform are the artisanal fishers, processors, and traders, whose livelihoods have been damaged and whose voices have been diminished (see annex 3:Ghana Fisheries Situational Model, annex 4: Advancing Reforms to Promote Sustainable Management of Ghana’s Small Pelagic Fisheries: An Applied Political Economy Analysis, and annex 5: Conference on Fisheries and Coastal Environment Accra 2019 Communique).

3.b RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ACTIVITIES

Strategic Alignment between Ghana and USAID Strategies

The Feed the Future GFRA aligns with Ghana’s 2018-2021 Medium-term National Development Policy framework objectives of reduced coastal erosion and conservation of marine areas, and

1 2018 report on status of small pelagic fish stock in Ghana 2 “https://maritime-executive.com/features/report-in-ghana-chinese-trawlers-strip-fisheries-using-local…” with Ghana’s 2015-2019 National Fisheries Management Plan (NFMP). It contributes to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s vision to move “Ghana Beyond Aid,” of building a self-reliant economy with women and youth at the forefront. The “Ghana Beyond Aid” compact broadly aligns with USAID’s strategy of the Journey to Self-Reliance (see annex 6: Ghana Journey to Self-Reliance Country Roadmap). USAID defines self-reliance as the capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions to local development challenges, and the commitment to see these solutions through effectively, inclusively, and with accountability. The USAID GFSS Ghana Country Plan (see annex 1) provides background for the Feed the Future portfolio in Ghana, including information on the country’s food security and nutrition context. Without a viable fisheries sector, Ghana’s opportunity to advance along the Journey to Self-Reliance would be severely compromised.

USAID/Ghana Activities

USAID/Ghana’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) (see annex 7:

USAID/Ghana Country Development Cooperation Strategy, August 11, 2020 - August 11, 2025) incorporates a behavior change approach. With this approach, USAID/Ghana will enable stakeholders in priority sectors to use available resources and achieve rapid results. The Contractor must implement the Feed the Future GFRA in partnership with local stakeholders and must integrate behavioral changes to spur adoption of new practices and strengthen systems to enable these changes.

In the CDCS results framework, Feed the Future GFRA will contribute to Development Objective 2, “Quality services delivered with increased accountability,” and to intermediate result 2.1, “National government leads policy implementation for efficient service delivery,” particularly “Government implements evidence-based policies to improve health, education, agriculture, energy, and fishery sectors.”

Feed the Future GFRA must align with the USAID GFSS Ghana Country Plan (see annex 1) and the USAID Biodiversity Policy and Code (see annex 8: USAID Biodiversity Policy).

Feed the Future GFRA builds upon these USAID investments:

Sustainable Fisheries Management (SFMP) Project (2014-2021): SFMP helped the Government of Ghana to implement its first fishing closed season, which reduced fishing efforts significantly and tested the conditions for future efforts to more closely align a closed season with the peak spawning period. USAID/Ghana helped to achieve the closed season by encouraging fisher-to-fisher dialogue (a platform to engage fishers and regulators to discuss sector issues); and collaboration with academia, civil society organizations, and industry to develop scientific evidence for MoFAD’s decision-making. SFMP contributed to the National Fisheries Co-management Policy, introduced a canoe registry and identification cards, and piloted post-harvest value chain technologies to improve the hygienic processing and trading of fish.

University of Cape Coast (UCC) Fisheries and Coastal Management Capacity Building Support (FCMCBS) Project (2014-2020): FCMCBS supported the research of 36 graduates (16 PhD and 20 Masters degree students), and 300 fishing practitioners and professionals to improve scientific and technical capacity in fisheries and coastal management, in the process establishing an International Fisheries Center of Excellence. FCMCBS conducted research on fisheries stock assessment, marine fisheries governance, finfish and shellfish of commercial value, value chains of fish trade, and biodiversity and health of coastal ecosystems, contributing science and applied research to inform decision making and law enforcement.

Other USG and Donor Coordination The Contractor must implement Feed the Future GFRA in coordination with other development partners. The European Union has three programs - Far Ban Bo (Protecting Fisheries Livelihoods), Far Dwuma Nkodo (Securing Sustainable Fisheries), and PESCAO (Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in West Africa) - combating IUU fishing through partnerships with Ghanaian and international civil society organizations, complemented by auditing of compliance with regulations to maintain access to European export markets. The Government of Norway’s Fish for Development initiative capitalizes on Norwegian expertise to strengthen research for fisheries management, commercial activities based on sustainable practices (mainly aquaculture), and resource management and legislation. The World Bank West Africa Regional Fisheries Program targeted industrial fisheries across the region, but disengaged from Ghana in 2019. The U.K. Department for International Development supported the creation of the Western Region Coastal Foundation to improve relationships among oil and gas companies, government agencies, and coastal communities by providing a multi-stakeholder dialogue platform and promoted economic development by building up local value chains related to the sector. USAID has ongoing cooperation with the State Department’s Regional Environment Office (REO), the U.S. Office of Security Cooperation, and the Security and Governance Initiative by exchanging data and coordinating planning.

4. CONTRACT OBJECTIVES

The current state of fisheries in Ghana is the result of longstanding economic, social, cultural, and political factors. In proposing its approach, the Contractor must demonstrate how it has accounted for the interactions among these factors and the overlap among objectives to achieve the Feed the Future GFRA’s purpose.

4.a DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTIVES

Objective 1: Align fisheries capacity with ecological carrying capacity of the small pelagic fisheries while enhancing the socio-economic well-being and resilience of artisanal fisherfolk

Small pelagic fisheries can sustain an estimated fleet size of 9,000 canoes, compared to the current fleet of approximately 14,000 vessels. Unless actions are implemented to align fishing capacity with the ecological carrying capacity of Ghana’s small pelagic fishery, this resource is likely to collapse, devastating the livelihoods and food security of millions of fishers, female fish processors, and associated businesses. Moving from open access to controlled access is needed to align fishing capacity and ecological carrying capacity, and these fishery management efforts must be complemented with measures that protect the well-being of fishing households which currently have few livelihood alternatives. Effectively achieving this transition will require eliminating illegal fishing by trawlers that currently compete with artisanal fishers for the small pelagic stock and implementing other fishery management measures to allow the stock to start to recover. It will also require engaging the Government of Ghana beyond MoFAD to provide appropriate services to Ghana’s large fishing community to enable ongoing stability during this period of inevitable transition. The Contractor must facilitate strengthened fishery management actions in combination with socio-economic supports that secure the long-term sustainability of Ghana’s small pelagic fisheries. This negotiated restructuring of the fishery must include, diversified livelihoods options for existing fishers, the creation of meaningful pathways out of the fishery for youth (aged 15-35 years), and reduction in child labor and child trafficking.

Objective 2: Increase the quality and value of artisanal fishers’ products in order to better maintain household income and enhance availability of nutritious foods for local and regional markets.

Many artisanal fishers process fish in rudimentary facilities, producing low-quality and low-priced products, which limit their earnings and the nutritional value of the fish. Increasing the value of fishery products, including its nutritional qualities, can help increase the resilience of fishing communities as they engage in stronger fisheries management measures to achieve the long-term sustainability of the resources they depend on. Women are the principal processors of artisanal fish and principal financiers of fishing expeditions. They cannot easily access savings and credit to purchase equipment to produce certified, healthy, and hygienic fisheries products that would bring a higher value. Fish processors rely on sustainable fish catch for their businesses, yet women, as the primary processors, are under-represented in fisheries management decisions. The Contractor must engage processors and traders to increase product quality and value, including nutritional benefits, and expand access to better quality and more nutritious fish in inland and regional markets, while enabling them to effectively influence the fisheries management decisions that underpin their businesses.

Objective 3: Strengthen transparency, accountability and co-management in government practices for fisheries policy-making, regulation, and enforcement

Sustaining Ghana’s small pelagic fishery requires improving the consistent enforcement of existing fishery laws and regulations and introducing additional management measures to align fishing and ecological capacities.

Weak and selective law enforcement results in low public confidence and widespread noncompliance with fisheries management laws, particularly related to the licensing and enforcement of the industrial fishing fleets. There is compelling evidence that ownership of many industrial vessels violates the requirements of Ghanian law, that licenses have been distributed outside the normal decision-making process, and that violations of fishing regulations by industrial vessels are detected with available technology, but not acted upon. When industrial vessels violate the rules of their permits and compete with artisanal fleets for small pelagic fisheries, it erodes stakeholder confidence in the government as a steward of this common resource. The contractor must work with government and other relevant partners to establish equitable and consistent enforcement of fisheries regulations that impact the small pelagic fishery within the industrial fleet and to achieve fairness in the allocation of fishing resources and increased confidence in the government as an effective management authority.

Additionally, co-management of the artisanal and semi-industrial fleets must be strengthened to achieve economic and ecological sustainability within the sector. The Communique (see annex

5) adopted by the multi-stakeholder participants at the Conference on Fisheries and Coastal Environment 2019 identifies the management actions needed to restore Ghana’s small pelagic fisheries. The Contractor must engage government; industry; fisheries associations, including women-dominated processing groups; civil society; academia; and other donors to adopt and implement the management measures identified in the Communique in order to recover the small pelagic fishery and increase transparency and accountability in management of the sector.

Objective 4: Strengthen constituencies to promote and implement sustainable fisheries management

Stronger engagement and organization of fisher and fish processing associations influenced the recent adoption of a closed fishing season for the artisanal fishing fleet. Fisher associations, including women’s groups, are a growing force for advocacy and reform, and better compliance by industry actors with more sustainable practices. The efforts of the fishing industry are often enhanced by diverse elements of civil society, such as traditional authorities, universities, think tanks, and the media. The Contractor must improve the organizational capacity of these constituencies, especially fisheries associations, community organizations, non-governmental organizations, journalists associations, and women’s processors and traders associations, to participate as co-managers of Ghanaian fisheries, perform oversight of actions taken by government and others in the sector, advocate for accountability in the government’s fisheries management reform and enforcement efforts, and support voluntary compliance with regulations by the fishers themselves. The Contractor must empower these stakeholders to effect change that builds confidence in the rule of law in fisheries management. The contractor must continue to build the capacity of these industry associations and civil society, while also expanding the constituencies for fisheries reform. The contractor must address barriers to women’s full participation in fisheires management by working with them to address and mitigate gender inequalities in decision-making and subsidy programs and to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) and child labor and trafficking in persons.

Objective 5: Improve use of science and research for policy and management decisions

Understanding the implications of policy and management decisions for Ghanian fisheries and their contribution to economic well-being and nutritional outcomes requires a shared scientific basis that draws on natural and social sciences from academic, government, and civil society researchers. Extraneous environmental and social factors can have as much of an impact on the protection of marine fisheries as the direct management efforts. The Contractor will build on the successful work of the Scientific and Technical Working Group (STWG) established under SFMP, including efforts to build collaboration between academia and the artisanal fishers. The Contractor must strengthen the UCC Center for Coastal Management and Africa Center of Excellence in Coastal Resilience to provide consistent fisheries science, economics, and social science to inform multi-stakeholder groups about the implications of management and policy options for improving the management of coastal fisheries to enhance household nutrition, resilience, and economic well-being. The Contractor must engage MoFAD/FC, industry group decision-makers, and leading researchers from academia and civil society, to identify and gather data, and systematically integrate it into management processes. This data will be used to determine the duration and timing of a closed season, the appropriate number of canoes, the measures to manage fishing effort and capacity, the extent of saiko practices, effective sector subsidies and support, the means to maximize the nutritional benefit of fish, and other purposes that benefit the women and men working in fisheries.

4.b RESULTS AND INDICATORS

The Contractor must measure and track indicators for each objective. The Contractor must track and report on standard indicators in the Standard Foreign Assistance (see annex 9: Standard Foreign Assistance Indicators) economic growth indicator reference sheets and the Feed the Future Indicator Handbook (see annex 10: Feed the Future Indicator Handbook). The Contractor may develop custom indicators and review indicators included in reports of previous

USAID fisheries activities found on the Development Experience Clearinghouse (see annex 11:

Development Experience Clearinghouse). The Contractor must develop final baselines and targets in consultation with USAID and must indicate proposed baselines and targets, where available or appropriate.

4.c GRANTS UNDER CONTRACTS

Grants may be included in the Performance Work Statement and considered under this contract.

[END OF STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES]

LIST OF ANNEXES

Documents may be accessed electronically at the sites listed below. If the document is not available electronically, it is attached to this solicitation.

ANNEX 1 - THE GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY (GFSS) GHANA COUNTRY

PLAN

(https://www.feedthefuture.gov/resource/global-food-security-strategy-gfss-ghana-country-plan/)

ANNEX 2 - USAID’S SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

PROJECT: REPORT ON THE BASELINE SURVEY OF SMALL PELAGIC FISHING

HOUSEHOLDS ALONG THE GHANA COAST

(https://www.crc.uri.edu/download/GH2014_PGM187_CRC_FIN508.pdf)

ANNEX 3 - GHANA FISHERIES SITUATIONAL MODEL

See Annex 3 attached to the SOO

ANNEX 4 - ADVANCING REFORMS TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT

OF GHANA’S SMALL PELAGIC FISHERIES: AN APPLIED POLITICAL ECONOMY

ANALYSIS (PEA)

(https://rmportal.net/biodiversityconservation-gateway/projects/current-global-projects/bridge/bridge-resources/advancing-reforms-to-promote-sustainable-management-of-ghana2019s-small-pelagic-fisheries/view)

ANNEX 5 - CONFERENCE ON FISHERIES AND COASTAL ENVIRONMENT ACCRA

2019 COMMUNIQUE

(https://acecor.ucc.edu.gh/communique-conference-fisheries-and-coastal-environment-accra- 2019)

ANNEX 6 - GHANA JOURNEY TO SELF-RELIANCE: COUNTRY ROADMAP

(https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/country/ghana)

ANNEX 7 - USAID/GHANA COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

STRATEGY, AUGUST 11, 2020 - AUGUST 11, 2025

(https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CDCS-Ghana-August-2025.pdf)

ANNEX 8 - USAID BIODIVERSITY POLICY

(https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USAID%20Biodiversity%20Policy% 20-%20June%202015.pdf) https://www.feedthefuture.gov/resource/global-food-security-strategy-gfss-ghana-country-plan/ https://www.feedthefuture.gov/resource/global-food-security-strategy-gfss-ghana-country-plan/ https://www.crc.uri.edu/download/GH2014_PGM187_CRC_FIN508.pdf https://rmportal.net/biodiversityconservation-gateway/projects/current-global-projects/bridge/bridge-resources/advancing-reforms-to-promote-sustainable-management-of-ghana2019s-small-pelagic-fisheries/view https://rmportal.net/biodiversityconservation-gateway/projects/current-global-projects/bridge/bridge-resources/advancing-reforms-to-promote-sustainable-management-of-ghana2019s-small-pelagic-fisheries/view https://rmportal.net/biodiversityconservation-gateway/projects/current-global-projects/bridge/bridge-resources/advancing-reforms-to-promote-sustainable-management-of-ghana2019s-small-pelagic-fisheries/view https://acecor.ucc.edu.gh/communique-conference-fisheries-and-coastal-environment-accra-2019 https://acecor.ucc.edu.gh/communique-conference-fisheries-and-coastal-environment-accra-2019 https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/country/ghana https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CDCS-Ghana-August-2025.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USAID%20Biodiversity%20Policy%20-%20June%202015.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USAID%20Biodiversity%20Policy%20-%20June%202015.pdf

ANNEX 9 - STANDARD FOREIGN ASSISTANCE INDICATORS

(https://usaidlearninglab.org/library/standard-foreign-assistance-indicators)

ANNEX 10 - FEED THE FUTURE INDICATOR HANDBOOK

(https://www.agrilinks.org/post/feed-future-indicator-handbook)

ANNEX 11 - DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE CLEARINGHOUSE

(https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/home/Default.aspx) https://usaidlearninglab.org/library/standard-foreign-assistance-indicators https://www.agrilinks.org/post/feed-future-indicator-handbook https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/home/Default.aspx