Mali, November 21 -- A development  plan  for fisheries and  aquaculture will soon be financed over three years by Mali's partners to the tune of 15 million  dollars, said this Friday the representation of the Economic Community of the States de  the West Africa (ECOWAS) at the end of a two-day meeting (18 and 19 November) of the subsector in Bamako.

The main condition set by the country's Technical and Financial Partners (TFP) for this financing has just been met by the Malian  Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and  Fisheries, according to CEDEARO. The aim was to unify the actors of this sub-sector vital to the Malian economy.

"This phase of unification of professionals was the prerequisite for the adoption of an Action Plan over the next three years. And this plan will benefit from a support of 15 million  dollars, or more than  10 billion  CFA francs, from the country's partners," Aboubacar Sidibé, the ECOWAS technical  assistant expert for the subsector, told reporters.  

According to the 4th quarter 2019 report of the National Institute of Statistics (INSAT), Mali's fisheries and  aquaculture subsector  contributed 3.9% of the country's GDP. During the same year, fish production reached 116,000 tons of poisons, placing Mali among the first African countries to produce  freshwater fish.

Jobs generated upstream and downstream of the fishery are estimated at at least 500,000, or 7.2% of active production, INSAT added.

In this regard, an office of the National Platform of Non-State Actors  in Fisheries and Aquaculture of Mali (PANEPAM) was set up on Thursday.

The establishment of the Platform will make it possible  to overcome obstacles to the development  of fisheries and aquaculture in the country, according to an advisor to the Malian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and  Fisheries.

Source: Xinhua News Agency  

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Mali Actu.

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