EU Gives Sh 1.7bn to Fight Poverty in Coastal Areas

from All Africa

Business Daily (Nairobi)

NEWS

By Allan Odhiambo

Coastal communities and five neighbouring countries are to benefit from a Sh1.7 billion initiative by the European Union aimed at sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.

The environmental project offers the communities an opportunity to protect and develop habitats, while exploiting them to alleviate poverty through fishing, tourism and other income generation activities.

Though tourism and fisheries have been the backbone of economies along the coastal strip, activities such as indiscriminate fishing, mangrove cutting and quarrying threaten the environment.

The initiative to stem the slump will be coordinated by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) through a special vehicle dubbed the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean (ReCoMap). "We targeted communities that are directly affected by the state of resources.

We want them to come up with ideas on how best the resources would be improved and managed to better their livelihoods," Mr Patrick Kimani, who heads the Kenyan chapter of the initiative, told Business Daily.

He said the key objective of the programme is to contribute to the reduction of poverty through improved conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. Mauritius, Comoros, Madagascar, Tanzania and Somalia are also part of the programme that is projected to run over the next five years.

It also has the backing of the East Africa Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Through ReCoMap, the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) is expected to develop and possibly adopt a national integrated coastal zone management plan (ICZM).

"We are looking up to assistance through the programme to come with a comprehensive plan that would guide future management of resources in the coastal zone," Ms Caroline Anyango of Nema said.

According to the blueprint of the initiative, populations in the coastal areas are required to enter into formal clusters such as Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or local authorities through which they would select projects they would wish to implement.

"We shall begin receiving the notes on the concept the communities wish to pursue beginning November, after which we shall call for full project proposals for evaluation and advice," Mr Kimani said.

Successful projects would each attract funding of between Sh930,000 and Sh9.3million depending on the scope of work. " The funding structure is that the programme would meet 95 per cent of the implementation cost while communities would provide the rest in cash or kind," Mr Shafick Osman, a communication officer with ReCoMap, told Business Daily.