Financing Plan ($)
	PPG	Project*
GEF Total		1,000,000
Co-financing	(provide details in Section b: Co-financing)
GEF IA/ExA
Government
Others		330,000
Co-financing Total		330,000
Total		1,330,000
Financing for Associated Activities If Any:

Focal Point endorsement will be received for individual projects supported by the Partnership Investment Fund

This proposal has been prepared in accordance with GEF policies and procedures and meets the standards of the GEF Project Review Criteria for a Medium-sized Project.
Steve Gorman Executive Coordinator, World Bank	Project Contact Person:Christophe Crepin GEF Regional Coordinator, Africa Region
Date: April 18, 2007	Tel. and email: 202-473-9727, ccrepin@worldbank.org

fOR jOINT PARTNERSHIP**
GEF Project/Component ($)
	(Share)	(Fee)
	(Share)	(Fee)
	(Share)	(Fee)

Milestones	Dates
Pif Approval	(actual)
PPG Approval	(if applicable)
MSP Effectiveness	May 1, 2007
MSP Start	June 1, 2007
MSP Closing	June 1, 2010
TE/PC Report*	Nov. 2010

1 - Summary

This proposal for a Medium Size Project (MSP) Grant from the GEF is to support a Strategic Partnership of stakeholders in the Africa region, led by the African Union, to advise a GEF Partnership Investment Fund intended to co-finance projects that can help African countries meet the fisheries and poverty reduction targets set at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). As such, this MSP would help ensure that the projects proposed for support by the Investment Fund reflect the priorities of the region, as well as help promote lessons learned from the individual projects throughout the region in order to develop a consensus among Governments and stakeholders of the long-term benefits of sustainable fisheries reforms. This MSP was described in the Partnership Brief for the overall Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the Large Marine Ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa, which was approved by the GEF Council in November, 2005. The proposed MSP supports the implementation of the results framework included in that Brief.

Rationale

Fisheries around the world are being over-exploited, causing declines in marine resources which have only reinforced cycles of coastal poverty for millions of rural fishing communities, while at the same time threatening the marine biodiversity and coastal ecosystems that support fisheries. Nowhere is the crisis in global fisheries more evident, and the need to implement both the fisheries and poverty reduction targets set by the WSSD greater, than in the five Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) that cover the coastal waters of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): The Canary Current LME, the Guinea Current LME, the Benguela Current LME, the Agulhas Current LME, and the Somali Coastal Current LME.[1]

These LMEs possess a wealth of globally significant marine biodiversity and habitats that provide the coastal countries of SSA with some of the world’s most fertile fishing grounds, many of which are transboundary in nature (with either the fish stocks or the fishing fleets migrating regularly across national boundaries, or both). FAO has estimated that some 2.7 million people in the region are engaged in coastal and inland fishing activities on a full or part-time basis, often in labor-intensive small-scale fisheries that include both subsistence and commercial activities. Fishing also provides an average of 23 percent of total animal protein intake in the region, significantly higher than the global average of 16 percent. Lastly, in terms of foreign exchange earnings, the value of net exports of fish products for the continent as a whole reached the equivalent of roughly US$1.7 billion in 2001, exceeding the net foreign exchange income reported for any other agricultural commodity.

As mentioned above, the fisheries resources supported by the Large Marine Ecosystems of SSA are being degraded and reduced by over-fishing. Total marine production from these LMEs seems to have reached a plateau since the early 1990s, and the number of overexploited and depleted stocks is rising throughout the region. The fisheries supported by all five LMEs have all shown ten-year trends of decline in catches.

They are threatened both by: (i) the destruction of critical habitat that provides spawning and nursery grounds for many species of fish in the early stages of their life cycle, and (ii) by over-harvesting of target fish stocks by adequately managed fishing effort.

Both local and foreign fleets fish in de facto open access conditions along most of the continent, and fishing pressures continue to increase. Much of the increased fishing pressures in SSA waters come from illegal fishing, which was recently estimated by a DFID-sponsored report to account for roughly 16 percent of the total value of all fish caught legally in these waters.

In many coastal countries of SSA, governments still do not have the financial resources or capacity to take control of their own resources and to prevent overexploitation by regulating access to these resources and protecting the critical habitats that support them. Nor do the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations in SSA have sufficient funds to assist individual coastal countries to implement the needed governance reforms in fisheries.

To support systematic reforms in fisheries management and governance in SSA, the World Bank will implement the Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the Large Marine Ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa. This Strategic Partnership initiative includes: (i) a Partnership Investment Fund that will encourage at least 10 country level investments in better fisheries management in SSA over the next 10 years, and (ii) a regional Strategic Partnership to help disseminate lessons learned from the various investments made by the fund. More specifically, in terms of the Partnership Investment Fund, the GEF will create a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund of US$60 million to be disbursed as grants, which will be available in three tranches over a ten-year period. This Partnership Investment Fund will be available to co-finance, together with IDA credits and IBRD loans from the World Bank and/or funds from other interested donors, country-level projects aimed at assisting SSA countries to achieve sustainability in their marine fisheries and meet the fisheries and poverty reduction targets set by the WSSD.

In order for the Partnership Investment Fund to be a stakeholder-driven regional funding mechanism, it will be advised by a partnership of stakeholders including Regional Fisheries Bodies (RFBs), led by the African Union and working through a Regional Advisory Committee (RAC). The Regional Activities of the Partnership will help ensure that the projects proposed for support by the Investment Fund reflect the priorities of the region and are in line with the eligibility criteria approved by the GEF Council, as well as complement existing initiatives such as the GEF-sponsored LME Programs. This will be achieved through this proposed medium sized project. In addition, this partnership of stakeholders will promote lessons learned from the individual projects throughout the region, in order to encourage replication and the prioritization of sustainable fisheries in national development policies such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, as well as the development planning of the World Bank (e.g. in relevant Country Assistance Strategies).

The Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in Africa will constitute the Regional Coordination, Communications and Capacity-Building component of the overall Strategic Partnership initiative. These Regional Activities will promote learning, information exchange and capacity building at the regional level, and encourage direct support to the fisheries sector as a result of good practices and lessons learned. The output will be dissemination of lessons learned from the individual projects throughout the region, in order to encourage replication and the prioritization of sustainable fisheries in national development policies.

Therefore the proposed project will carry out four functions which includes the following components:

· Coordination

· Communication

· Linkage and cohesion with RFBs and LME programs

· Advocacy and capacity-building for greater African fisheries support

Objectives

The objective of the Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the large Marine Ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa -- is to promote the sustainable management of fisheries resources in the LMEs of Sub-Saharan Africa in order to assist coastal countries to make concrete progress towards achieving the fisheries and poverty reduction targets set by the WSSD. This objective combines the aim of sustainable use of fisheries resources and the marine ecosystems that support them, with the aim of promoting effective poverty alleviation and sustainable income growth of fishing communities in SSA.

Specifically, the objectives of this MSP Grant in support of the Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership are to:

· Strengthen regional coordination in order to ensure complementarity among country-level and regional projects, particularly in respect to management of trans-boundary resources;

· Promote learning and information exchange at the regional level to ensure that the lessons from successes and failures of country and LME level investments are adequately disseminated and can provide examples that will align Governments and stakeholders around a common understanding of the fisheries reforms necessary to meet the WSSD targets;

· Encourage long-term and sustainable financial support in the SSA countries for the necessary governance (i.e. policy, legal, and institutional) reforms and sector adjustments to manage their fisheries sustainably in a way that ensures a distribution of benefits that will contribute to poverty reduction and food security;

· Assist individual coastal countries to build the capacity to participate in the ongoing GEF-led Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) projects and regional fisheries bodies (RFBs) as well as collaborate through these initiatives to implement management measures for the marine ecosystems and the trans-boundary fisheries resources and/or fishing fleets that would be more appropriate at the sub-regional scale (e.g. sub-regional monitoring, control and surveillance systems, management of fishing capacity, sub-regional research initiatives, networks of marine protected areas (MPAs), etc.).

Expected Outcomes

· Greater knowledge of and support for best practices in sustainable management of fisheries at both country and LME level, as indicated by evidence that relevant stakeholders in SSA countries have become aware of lessons of successes and failures of country and LME level investments.

· Increased financial commitment to reform of fisheries management and governance, as indicated by changes in budget and staffing for policy, institutional and legal initiatives contributing to more effective management compared with baseline levels.

· Increased capacity for participation in LME projects and Regional Fisheries Bodies for effective management of trans-boundary fishery resources, as indicated by new institutions and staff devoted to such issues at the national level.

Key Indicators, Assumptions and Risks

This MSP would contribute to the larger results and results indicators included in the overall Results Framework for the Strategic Partnership, which was approved in November 2005. More specifically, this proposed MSP would contribute directly and primarily to one of the four overall specific objectives of the Strategic Partnership - to “promote learning, information exchange and capacity building at the regional level, to ensure that the lessons from successes and failures of country and LME level investments are adequately disseminated.” This would be measured by the following process indicators for the Strategic Partnership (over the 10-year period and three tranches of the Strategic Partnership):

· Awareness of recent developments and proven approaches to management for sustainable fisheries, of the status of global fisheries, and of the dialogue between developing and developed countries and distant water fishing interests on sharing benefits promoted in at least 75% of all Sub-Saharan African countries.

· Examples of support for sector strategy design and development of tactical programs to implement the sector strategy documented and distributed to all sub-Saharan countries.

· Examples of programs to effectively provide more remunerative alternative employment to fishermen (including creation of vocational training, education, micro-credit programs and the introduction of social security programs) documented and distributed to all sub-Saharan countries.

The MSP would also contribute to the following indicators of global environmental benefits:

· Reduced fishing pressure on fish stocks in selected coastal fisheries in the longer run. The performance indicator for this impact would be fishing capacity operating in the waters of participating countries has been reduced from baseline levels.

· Implementation of policies, programs and laws aimed at the conservation and sustainable management of fisheries resources, consistent with the targets set by the WSSD and the principles contained in the Code of Conduct for Sustainable Fisheries. The performance indicator would be the successful implementation of programs, laws and policies under projects supported by the investment fund that meet rigorous technical criteria for the instrument in question.

· Reforms and strengthening of institutions necessary to control fishing effort in country waters and maintain or restore the fisheries to levels at or below maximum sustainable yield. The performance indicator would be the successful creation or strengthening of institutions according to appropriate technical criteria by projects supported by the investment fund.

· Increase in socioeconomic benefits for fishers remaining in the sector, as well as for those individuals departing the fisheries. The performance indicator would be increased fish catch for inshore fishers increases; additional non-fishing jobs are created in and around fishing communities affected by projects supported by the investment fund.

· Increased intra-regional cooperation and learning on fisheries governance and management. The performance indicator would be evidence from a post-project survey that stakeholders in participating countries have acquired ideas or information from project learning exchanges and dialogues on best practices and collaboration that they will be able to use or in future policies or programs.

Key assumptions include:

· Successes in reforming marine fisheries in individual projects supported by the Strategic Partnership can encourage similar reforms in other countries when communicated effectively; and

· The key actions necessary to help achieve the fisheries targets set by the WSSD involve strengthened governance and management of the marine fish resources.

The key risks to the success of the MSP would be:

· There is a lack of long-term commitment on the part of African Governments to undertake and maintain sustainable fisheries reforms;

· The timeframe for recovery of some severely depleted marine fish stocks is beyond the period of the Strategic Partnership; and

· There is political instability in some of the coastal countries attempting to undertake key fisheries reforms.

2 - Country ownership

a) Country Eligibility

The countries are eligible under paragraph 9(b) of the GEF Instrument. All SSA countries that will benefit from these investments will be those that have ratified the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).[2]

B) Country Drivenness

Coastal countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to request support from the Partnership Investment Fund for projects that would be designed to assist them to meet the fisheries and poverty reduction targets set by the WSSD. Project proposals would clearly reflect the countries’ own vision of sustainable fisheries and the key priority actions necessary to achieving that vision, as developed through a participatory process with the key stakeholders. Proposals will aim at strengthening stakeholder consultation processes and institutions for fisheries governance at the national and local level by: a) fostering public and private participation in the management of the fisheries, b) strengthening or establishing conflict resolution mechanisms, and (c) enhancing the capacity of civil society organizations to participate in fisheries resources management.

The Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund will encourage county-level investments in the LMEs of SSA, which would complement the ongoing GEF-led sub-regional LME projects. These investments would build the capacity of coastal countries in SSA to implement policy and institutional reforms needed at the national level in order to meet the targets for sustainable fisheries and poverty reduction set by the WSSD, and as well as to support monitoring, surveillance and enforcement of national and international laws and regulations with regard to fisheries and the ecosystems that support them, thereby enabling the countries to more fully collaborate with and participate in the ongoing GEF-funded regional LME projects.

3 – Program and Policy Conformity

a) Program Designation and Conformity

The rationale for support of the Strategic Partnership through the Waterbody-based Operational Program (OP#8) is that the fisheries resources in the large marine ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa are both poorly governed and often transboundary in nature. Furthermore, the activities within the Strategic Partnership will contribute directly to meeting the targets of the GEF-4 International Waters Strategic Objectives, specifically to IW#1: Catalyze implementation of agreed reforms and on-the-ground stress reduction investments to address transboundary water concerns (e.g. WSSD fisheries targets) and, also to IW#2: Expand foundational capacity-building to a limited number of new transboundary systems through integrated approaches and foster replication through targeted learning for the international waters portfolio.

More specifically, the proposed MSP will contribute to indicators of IW#1 through the promotion of sustainable fisheries policies and activities to key decision-makers throughout the region, with the inclusion of fisheries in policy documents such as PRSPs, and key policy reform instruments such as national fisheries management plans and laws. And, contribute to indicators of IW#2 through the creation of and support to the Regional Advisory Committee of fisheries decision-makers and stakeholders led by the African Union.

As part of the larger initiative for a Strategic Partnership a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in Africa, the regional activities of the Strategic Partnership would complement the ongoing GEF-led sub-regional LME projects. These country-level investments would build the capacity of coastal countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to more fully collaborate with and participate in the ongoing GEF funded regional LME projects as well as their obligations as members of Regional Fisheries Bodies.

B) Project Design

Sector Issues and Root Causes

The fisheries sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, like the fisheries sector in other areas of the world, suffers from pervasive overexploitation and resource depletion, with serious socio-economic impacts on coastal communities and on food security in those countries. Both local and foreign fleets fish in de facto open access conditions along most of the continent, with fishing pressures continuing to increase. These problems have multiple root causes which include the following:

· Systematic overcapacity in both inshore and offshore fisheries and fleets.

· Inadequate governance systems, including the legal and administrative frameworks under which the sectors are regulated.

· The absence of economic incentives for sustainable fishing in coastal waters through limiting access and allocating fishing rights.

· Inadequate capacity for effective fisheries management based on an ecosystem approach in key institutions.

· Inadequate capacity for the negotiation of equitable and sustainable international fishing access agreements with distant water fishing countries or their fleets.

· Lack of opportunity or capacity of artisanal fishers and fishworkers to participate in co-management schemes and otherwise exercise responsibility for regulating inshore fishing.

· Weak systems of fisheries monitoring, control, surveillance and law enforcement measures

Barriers to Trans-boundary Cooperation at Sub-regional Level

At the ecosystem and sub-regional level, there is a need for countries to cooperate in addressing these root causes in order to manage fisheries resources, including trans-boundary resources, effectively. The barriers to successful cooperation at the LME and sub-regional level include:

· Insufficient human and financial resources for international cooperation.

· Inadequate institutional arrangements for coordination and exchange of information

· Insufficient harmonization of legislation and procedures

· Insufficient data and analysis of status and trends in transboundary resources.

Project Strategy

This proposed MSP for the Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the Large Marine Ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa will aim to achieve the objectives referenced above in Section 2. The proposed MSP has been structured around four components as described below:

Component 1: Coordination (Total cost: US$609,000; GEF: US$444,000; Others: US$165,000)

This component would focus on the overall coordination of the Strategic Partnership in order to ensure that stakeholders advise and monitor the projects supported by the Partnership Investment Fund and that countries are aware about the opportunities of the Partnership. This component would include (i) supporting the Regional Advisory Committee to advise the World Bank and GEF on potential projects for support by the Partnership Investment Fund; (ii) informing coastal countries in Africa about the availability and procedures for the Strategic Partnership funds; (iii) promoting policy dialogue on the importance of fisheries at the regional level with the African Union and member nations; and (iv) providing monitoring and evaluation of the Strategic Partnership and the projects towards achieving the fisheries and poverty reduction targets of the WSSD. For example, some of the concrete activities supported under this component would include the maintenance of an ongoing monitoring and evaluation framework that captures the progress of Partnership Fund investments towards achieving the results indicators in the Partnership Brief. Similarly, this component would fund an independent evaluation of the performance of Tranche I of the Partnership Investment Fund, as well as regular meetings of the RAC to review potential projects and advise the World Bank.

Component 2: Communication (Total cost: US$316,000; GEF: US$211,000; Others: US$105,000). This component would focus on communicating the results and lessons learned from various projects supported by the Partnership Investment Fund, both to encourage replication, and also to highlight successes and the importance of fisheries in key policy decisions throughout the region. This component would include: (a) communication of lessons learned and key results from projects supported by the Partnership Investment Fund to both decision-making and technical audiences throughout the region, (ii) promoting the importance of fisheries for poverty reduction and inclusion in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs); and (iii) publishing materials and other medium for raising awareness with stakeholders throughout the region about the importance of fisheries resource management. For example, some of the concrete activities supported under this component would include workshops and seminars to present the results of Partnership investments to high-level decision-makers in the Ministries of Finance in member countries of the African Union. Similarly, the component would fund the production of locally appropriate materials for key stakeholders and decision-makers about the economic benefits of sustainable fisheries reforms and the case for reducing fishing capacity in many areas.

Component 3: Linkage and cohesion with RFBs and LME programs (Total cost: US$210,000; GEF: US$210,000). This component would focus on ensuring that projects supported by the Partnership are complementary to the activities of the Regional Fisheries Bodies and the Large Marine Ecosystem programs, and help implement the findings and research of these bodies and programs. This component would include: (i) meetings of the Regional Advisory Committee on at least an annual basis in order to give the RFBs and LMEs an opportunity to review and comment on proposed project concepts, as well as suggest ways they could be revised to better link with their programs and priorities; and (ii) provision of technical support as needed to individual countries to help identify projects or revise project concepts in order to better link with the ongoing work of the RFBs and LMEs. For example, some of the concrete activities supported by this component would include technical assistance missions to specific countries receiving investments from the Partnership Investment Fund, in order to assist them to incorporate the proposed activities into the larger regional context and Strategic Action Program of the LME projects. Similarly, the component would support joint meetings of RAC members with specific LMEs to examine coordination between Partnership-supported projects and the LME projects.

Component 4: Advocacy & Capacity Building for Long-Term African Fisheries Support (Total cost: US$195,000; GEF: US$135,000; Others: US$60,000). This component would focus on providing support to the African Union to develop the capacity and constituency for sustainable fisheries reforms among its member states, and to identify the long-term sources of financing for those reforms, which would continue beyond the completion of the Strategic Partnership. Essentially, while the Strategic Partnership will provide direct financing for sustainable fisheries reforms throughout the period of implementation, it will at the same time support alignment among the African Union and member countries, as well as donor partners, around the objectives of sustainable fisheries. As such, the component would build consensus around the benefits of sustainable fisheries reforms as demonstrated by the investments from the Strategic Partnership, and help the African Union and countries establish and ensure long-term financing for these reforms. This component would include: (i) provision of technical assistance to the African Union and its member countries to develop and review project concepts and proposals aimed at sustainable fisheries; (ii) capacity-building and technical assistance to the African Union to encourage long-term reforms in the fisheries sectors of countries and to work with them to identify and commit dedicated resources and long-term financing for these reforms; and (iii) support for technical replication of projects and project concepts to generate increased financing of sustainable fisheries by African countries. For example, some of the concrete activities supported by this component would include providing technical support to African Union member countries to develop local strategies and long-term financing plans for the adoption of sustainable fisheries reforms piloted through the Partnership Investment Fund.

Overall, the proposed MSP will help ensure that participating countries generate the information necessary to measure the success of the Strategic Partnership towards achieving its Global Environmental/Development Objective and the more specific objectives by providing a system of monitoring and evaluation. The monitoring and evaluation system will include the following sub-components:

· Project level Monitoring and Evaluation (processes)

· Country level Monitoring and Evaluation (results)

· Program level Monitoring and Evaluation (results)

The Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership project will be implemented through a Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), which will represent all national and international stakeholder concerned with fisheries management and the LME-wide issues and programs.

The functions of the RAC will include the following:

· ensuring that country-level projects are in agreement with the decisions and recommendations of regional fisheries management organizations and in support of agreed regional goals,

· coordinating with regional fisheries management bodies and with the GEF-sponsored LME Programs, e.g. by developing and maintaining an inventory of all LME and GEF fisheries projects in the region and by convening a meeting of representatives from RFBs and the LME Programs at least once a year to ensure coordination and exchange of lessons learned,

· ensuring coherence between the country-level projects supported by the Strategic Partnership,

· advising each proposed project,

· allowing for independent analysis and evaluations of projects,

· identifying synergies and disseminating common lessons that could be shared between different projects, and

· formulating strategies to replicate similar projects in the region;

· raising awareness of the importance of sustainable fisheries in development policies and strategies such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and World Bank Country Assistance Strategies, and

· assisting countries in the mobilization of co-funding.

The RAC will meet as needed, but at a minimum once a year, to review Concept Notes and undertake any of the other functions listed below, including receiving the full Project Briefs for information once they have been approved.

The Regional Advisory Committee will have the following 13 permanent members:

· The African Union (as the Chair)

· The Regional Fisheries Bodies:

1. Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC)

2. Regional Fishery Committee for the Gulf of Guinea (COREP)

3. Southeast Atlantic Fisheries Organization (SEAFO)

4. Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC)

5. Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF)

6. The Ministerial Conference of the African States bordering the Atlantic

· Civil Society Organizations (on a rotational basis to be decided by the RAC, should include professional organizations);

· United Nations Development Program (UNDP), on behalf of LME Programs;

· United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), on behalf of LME Programs;

· FAO; and

· World Wildlife Fund

In addition, representatives with an observer status will be invited from each of the four GEF-funded LME Programs, the World Bank, the GEF Secretariat, additional civil society organizations and other donors.

The RAC will be served by a small Secretariat, which the African Union will organize and lead with the support of FAO and WWF. The AU-based Secretariat will support the RAC’s execution of its functions by:

· providing assistance to countries for preparation of proposals;

· supporting the activities of the RAC, on communications, coordination and exchange of information from lessons learned;

· assisting in informing countries, stakeholders, potential co-financiers, and other relevant parties of the objectives and requirements of the Strategic Partnership;

· assisting in the preparation of annual reports, progress reports, work plans and budgets for approval by RAC; and

· coordinating monitoring and evaluation activities at the regional level, including aggregating the data for key results indicators from individual projects into a database, and reporting on the Strategic Partnership’s progress towards achieving its regional targets (as elaborated in the Partnership Brief).

Project Costs to be Financed by the GEF

The GEF will finance the costs of the Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership, including the Secretariat and the RAC, in the amount of US $ 1 million over the 3-year period of the first tranche. Estimated co-financing for the project is US$ 330,000. This level of co-financing represents the baseline upon which these incremental costs would be financed, in order to achieve the global environmental objectives of the Strategic Partnership.

Component	Cost Category	US$ Million	Global Benefit
I. Coordination	Baseline	165,000	Minimum exchange of information necessary for countries to access Partnership Investment Fund.
	GEF Alternative	609,000	Promotion of sustainable fisheries policies at the regional level and institutional reforms in countries for sustainable fisheries.
II. Communication	Baseline	105,000	Basic communication of experiences of Partnership Investment Fund.
	GEF Alternative	316,000	Exchange of lessons learned from Partnership-supported projects, replication of examples in various countries throughout the region for increased management of fisheries resources.
III. Linkage and Cohesion with RFBs and LME Programs	Baseline	0	No linkage with RFBs or LMEs.
	GEF Alternative	210,000	Complementarity with RFBs and LME programs to ensure that Partnership Investment Funds support the ecosystem-based fisheries management measures designed by the LME programs, for the greater protection of LMEs throughout the region.
IV. Advocacy & Capacity Building for Greater African Fisheries Support	Baseline	60,000	Minimum exchange to attempt to build case for long-term commitments by African countries to sustainable fisheries reforms.
	GEF Alternative	195,000	Greater capacity and constituency among African Governments to provide long-term support and financing for sustainable fisheries and ecosystem-based fisheries management in Africa.
Totals	Baseline	330,000
	GEF Alternative	1,330,000
	Incremental	1,000,000

C) Sustainability (including financial sustainability)

The sustainability of the country-level projects supported by the Partnership Investment Fund will be assured by the nature of these investments, which will be focused on institutional capacity-building and national policy and regulatory reforms that would enable sustainable management of the fisheries resources of the LMEs long after the completion of individual projects. Based on the eligibility criteria and operating principles, as well as the suggested types of projects and monitoring indicators, each individual project will be designed to implement long-lasting reforms in the fisheries of the LMEs. In addition, each project will include a sustainability and replication plan in the design, in order to ensure that the outcomes of the projects supported by the Partnership Investment Fund are sustained. The sustainability of the Regional Activities supported by this proposed Grant will be assured by the leadership of the AU, and the efforts of this proposed Grant to support long-term capacity building within the AU.

D) Replicability

One of the key objectives of the Strategic Partnership is to promote the replication of successful reforms and management measures implemented by countries with the support of the Partnership Investment Fund (see specific objectives in section B.2). Through the Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership supported by the Grant, the RAC will formulate strategies to replicate successful projects and examples throughout the region, for example by utilizing existing resources such as the GEF-sponsored International Waters Resources Center (IW:Learn Program) and website (www.iwlearn.net) to share the lessons from one country-level project supported by the Partnership Investment Fund with other current or prospective projects, or to assist the RFBs and wider LME Programs to promote the reforms made by one country more broadly throughout the LME, etc. As the RAC will include members and observers from the LME Programs, the Regional Fisheries Bodies, civil society and donors, it will be well placed to communicate success stories throughout the region, particularly through the African Union.

E) Stakeholder Involvement

Stakeholders in Project Development

Regional stakeholders as well as other intergovernmental and non-government organizations have been involved in the planning of the Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership.

The coastal SSA countries involved have already provided GEF Focal Point endorsement of each of these 5 LME Programs, and the Programs are now providing a critical knowledge base from which individual countries can improve the governance of their marine resources and protect marine biodiversity and habitats. To complement this ongoing process, additional assistance is being sought at the country level to implement the fisheries-related action programs and recommendations generated by the work undertaken through the LME Programs. For this reason, in 2003 the GEF asked the World Bank to explore options for creating a stakeholder-driven funding mechanism to assist individual coastal countries to build on the findings and recommendations provided through the implementation of the LME Programs and meet the targets for sustainable fisheries and poverty reduction set by the WSSD.

As a result, the World Bank submitted a concept for establishing a Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the LMEs of Sub‑Saharan Africa based on the model of the GEF-sponsored Danube/Black Sea Basin Strategic Partnership. This concept for a Strategic Partnership was approved by the GEF in mid-2003, and the World Bank asked the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to serve as planning partners in the preparation of this initiative. (The GEF approved the full Strategic Partnership brief for the Strategic Partnership initiative in November 2005.)

In order to ensure this concept for a stakeholder-driven regional funding mechanism would fit within such regional inter-governmental agreements as the WSSD, the AU priorities, the NEPAD CAADP, the strategies of the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and the ongoing LME Programs, the Strategic Partnership was prepared through wide consultations within the region. The process began when the First Consultative Workshop with stakeholders from throughout the region was convened by FAO, the World Bank and WWF (i.e. the planning partners) in Dakar, Senegal, 18-20 January 2005.

The Dakar workshop attained broad agreement on the goals and objectives of the Strategic Partnership and its operating principals, as well as on eligibility criteria for country level projects to be supported by the Partnership Investment Fund. More specifically, there was agreement among the participants on the premise that inadequate governance of the fisheries resources is the root cause of the current levels of overexploitation in the LMEs, and the Strategic Partnership is a suitable mechanism to generate funds which could assist coastal countries in SSA to take the necessary actions to meet the WSSD fisheries and poverty reduction targets.

After the First Consultative Workshop, a small meeting was held in Dakar with several representatives from the GEF-sponsored LME Programs, in order to discuss ongoing coordination. The meeting agreed that the LME Programs should be represented at the regional level in the Strategic Partnership, and that the RAC would also coordinate with them in terms of individual country level activities as well.

Stakeholders in Project Implementation

As a result of these extensive consultations, there is broad agreement on the roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders in project implementation. The African Union will provide both leadership of the RAC as its Chair, and the Secretariat function for the RAC with the support of FAO and WWF. FAO and WWF, as planning partners with the World Bank in the preparation of the Strategic Partnership, will play active roles as members of the RAC, and will provide support to the African Union, especially on technical matters and in communications, awareness building and information dissemination of the Strategic Partnership.

Marginal Groups and Project Implementation

In the larger context of the Strategic Partnership Initiative, inshore fishers have been net losers in fisheries management wherever distant water fleets have dominated fishing in national waters. The reforms of fisheries governance and management mechanisms supported by the investment fund should include means by which inshore fishers have a greater voice in fisheries management. This shift should also be reflected in the Regional Activities carried out by the RAC. Specifically, exchanges of experience in management and governance reform would focus on this issue, which will require participation in joint learning processes by inshore fishers and their representatives. Similarly the coordination of policies, programs affecting the LME or sub-regional level of management would involve the adequate representation of inshore fishers’ interests.

Furthermore, the larger initiative will be aimed in part at strengthening stakeholder consultation processes and institutions at the national and local level, which means that inshore fishers will be more involved in advising governments on fisheries management measures and policies. Because the RAC is involved directly in monitoring and evaluating progress on that objective, it will be in a position to reinforce the strengthening of consultations with inshore fishers.

F) Monitoring and Evaluation

To evaluate the results of the regional activities, the RAC will have an independent evaluation conducted roughly every three years to monitor the success of the Strategic Partnership in coordinating among projects and among donors; in advocating for the prioritization of sustainable fisheries in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, World Bank Country Assistance Strategies and other key development policies and strategies; and in disseminating good practices and experiences from projects and LME programs. Three output indicators that will be used:

• Awareness in at least 75% of all Sub-Saharan African countries of recent developments and proven approaches to management for sustainable fisheries, of the status of global fisheries, and of the dialogue between developing and developed countries and distant water fishing interests on sharing benefits promoted.

• Examples of support for sector strategy design and development of tactical programs to implement the sector strategy documented and distributed to all SSA countries.

• Examples of programs to effectively provide more remunerative alternative employment to fishers (including creation of vocational training, education, micro-credit programs and the introduction of social security programs) documented and distributed to all SSA countries.

These regional level indicators will be followed and tracked by the RAC. In addition, the Secretariat to the RAC will compile in a regional database the key results indicators data from each country-level project supported by the Strategic Partnership (the data will be pulled from World Bank project supervision reports in collaboration with the World Bank who will be the implementing agency). The Secretariat will compile, aggregate and analyze this data in order to track the overall progress of the Strategic Partnership towards its key performance indicators and logframe in the Partnership Brief. The Secretariat will present the results of this monitoring and evaluation as part of an annual report to the RAC.

4 - Financing

Financing Plan

A) project Costs

Project Components/Outcomes	Co-financing ($)	GEF ($)	Total ($)
1. Coordination	30,000	384,000	414,000
2. Communication	105,000	211,000	316,000
3. Linkage & Cohesion with RFBs & LME Programs		210,000	210,000
4. Advocacy & Capacity Building for Greater African Fisheries Support	60,000	135,000	195,000
5. Project management budget/cost*	135,000	60,000	195,000
Total project costs	330,000	1,000,000	1,330,000

b) Project management Budget/cost[3]

Component	Estimated staffweeks	GEF($)	Other sources ($)	Project total ($)
Personnel*
Local consultants*
International consultants*	40	35,000	75,000	110,000
Office facilities, equipment, vehicles and communications		25,000	60,000	85,000
Travel
Miscellaneous
Total	40	60,000	135,000	195,000

* Local and international consultants in this table are those who are hired for functions related to the management of project. For those consultants who are hired to do a special task, they would be referred to as consultants providing technical assistance. For these consultants, please provide details of their services in c) below:

c) Consultants working for technical assistance components:

Component	Estimated staffweeks	GEF($)	Other sources ($)	Project total ($)
Personnel
Local consultants	114	84,000	30,000	114,000
International consultants	264	495,000	165,000	660,000
Total	378	579,000	195,000	774,000

D) Co-financing Sources[4] (expand the table line items as necessary)

Co-financing Sources
Name of co-financier (source)	Classification	Type	Amount ($)	Status
				Confirmed	unconfirmed
African Union	Multilateral	In-Kind	90,000	90,000
FAO	Bilateral	In-Kind	135,000	135,000
WWF	NGO	In-Kind	105,000	105,000
Sub-total co-financing			330,000	330,000

5 - Institutional Coordination and Support

A) Core Commitments and Linkages

The World Bank, as Implementing Agency, is committed to supporting systematic reforms in fisheries management and governance in SSA. The Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership are nested within the larger Strategic Partnership initiative, which will encourage at least 10 country level investments in better fisheries management in SSA over the next 10 years.

These two closely linked initiatives, the investment fund of the Strategic Partnership (funded by US$60 million in GEF grants in 3 tranches over 10 years) and the Regional Activities of the Strategic Partnership (proposed for funding from this Medium-Sized Project Grant), are part of broader role played by the World Bank in the environmental sector by supporting regional mechanisms for identifying environmental priorities and supporting investments aimed at responding to those priorities. The GEF Strategic Partnership on the Danube/Black Sea Basin is a major World Bank-sponsored program for governance and investment.

The GEF is heavily committed to assisting governments of coastal countries in SSA to manage their fisheries resources more sustainably and to protect the critical habitats that support them. As a first step toward that goal, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has sponsored sub-regional LME Programs in each of the 5 LMEs.

B) Consultation, Coordination and Collaboration between and among Implementing Agencies, Executing Agencies, and the GEF Secretariat, if appropriate.

The extensive consultations with all stakeholders which preceded the submission of the concept for the Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund in the LMEs of Sub‑Saharan Africa to the GEF, including the consultative workshops in Dakar in January 2005 and in Dar Es Salaam in June 2005, have been followed by further consultations over the past year among the World Bank, the LME programs and the planning partners—the African Union, FAO and WWF. In May 2006, the African Union, together with FAO and WWF, hosted the first meeting of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), which endorsed this draft proposal.

C) Project Implementation Arrangement

Taking note of the Resolution adopted by the Dar Es Salaam consultative workshop and endorsed by the first meeting of the RAC, the AU, FAO and WWF broadly agreed on the terms of reference for their respective roles and responsibilities in implementing the project. This agreement, in line with good partnership practices, is based on three principles as follows:

• Individual responsibility of each partner for each well-defined activity;
• Common peer review of all outputs by the three partners;
• Collective agreement among all three partners on the set of envisaged outputs based on the recommendations of the RAC and the project brief as endorsed by the GEF Council.

Taking account of the respective comparative advantages of each agency, the roles and responsibilities would be assigned as follows:

The African Union will chair and direct the Secretariat of the RAC and take responsibility for overall coordination, and for mobilization of funding, as appropriate. The Secretariat will work under the direction of the RAC and report its activities to the RAC as well as to the World Bank as implementing agency.

FAO will provide technical assistance to the RAC Secretariat and AU. It will provide technical advice to the AU and to countries, at their request, on project proposal preparation, assist in consultation and coordination with the GEF-supported LMEs of Sub-Saharan Africa, and advice on replication strategies and policies and help the RAC in meeting its M & E responsibilities.

WWF will provide support to the AU in regard to the communications functions of the RAC Secretariat, including, inter alia, the development of a dedicated web site, the identification of synergies and dissemination of common lessons learned and the raising of awareness of sustainable fisheries best practices.

In summary, this proposal has been designed through a large and extensive period of consultations as part of the larger Strategic Partnership initiative, and endorsed by the first meeting of the RAC held in Nairobi in May, 2006.

A - Convention Secretariat

No comments received yet

B - Other IAs and relevant ExAs

No comments received yet

C - STAP

Individual projects proposed under the Partnership Investment Fund will undergo individual reviews by a qualified reviewer chosen from the STAP roster.

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