Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Blue Hope Initiative has been officially launched for key communities in Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey to improve efficiency and sustainability.
The project will be used to develop, in a participatory nature, territorial investment plans using the FAO Blue Growth Initiative approach to harness long term financing to make fisheries, aquaculture and associated value chains more productive and sustainable, more efficient and inclusive, and to reduce rural poverty.
Henry DeBey, lead technical officer for the Blue Hope project, said: “Although the investment plans developed through the project will be territorial in nature, mainly focused on specific territories within the countries, through the inception meeting participants asked for more interregional exchanges to compare their respective investment plans as they are developed, to maximize synergies in priority areas such as interests in pescatourism (sustainable fisheries-related tourism), value chain development, among others.
“We want to facilitate these kinds of exchanges and build lasting networks among these communities to sustain the impacts of this project.”
Shared sustainability
During the two-day inception dialogue in Tunis, stakeholders from the three countries worked with FAO to share experiences in sustainable development, including within the context of the blue economy, and express perspectives and priorities for the project.
Blue Hope activities will continue to be elaborated with the national governments and territorial communities of Gokova, Turkey, Bejraia, Algeria and the region around Djerba and Zarzis in Tunisia.
Immediate next steps revolve around elaborating the work plan and methodology for developing the investment plan and determining how best to carry out initial diagnostics of the various sectors and stakeholders in the community areas.
