Report

Participatory diagnosis and adaptive management of small-scale fisheries in the Niger River Basin

author(s) Béné, Christophe - Kodio, A. - Lemoalle, J. - Mills, D. - Morand, P. - Ovie, S. - Sinaba, F. - Tafida, A.
from CGIAR - Research Programs and Platforms
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themes
regions
  • Africa
  • World
  • Western Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
citation

Béné, C., Kodio, A., Lemoalle, J., Mills, D., Morand, P., Ovie, S., Sinaba, F. and Tafida, A. 2009. Participatory diagnosis and adaptive management of small-scale fisheries in the Niger River Basin. Colombo, Sri Lanka: CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food.

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Abstract

In a broad sense, analysis of ‘resilience’ is about the capacity of systems to adapt to
shocks, recognizing that disturbance and change are integral component of complex
systems. More formally, resilience analysis proposes to focus on mechanisms and
processes that help systems absorbing perturbations and shocks, and coping with
uncertainty and risks. Defined in such a way, the concept of resilience thus appears
particularly useful for the management of small-scale fisheries. However, while the
resilience concept is appealing, particularly in the face of the failure of current
management approaches, the danger is that it remains largely academic and theoretical,
and not of a great help in effectively improving the way natural resources are managed
on the ground. The challenge, therefore, lies in a pragmatic approach to operationalizing
the concept of resilience and making its implementation on the ground practical and
meaningful. In this project we propose a framework aimed at this objective and we test
it in the specific context of small-scale fisheries in the Niger River Basin.

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