Flicker of hope amidst violence and humanitarian crises

With funding from the European Union (EU), the Producing for urban Markets Project fisheries project, implemented by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and a national NGO, Compass, is supporting the poor fisherfolks to defy the odds created by the current conflict, and to expand their fishing activities and maintain their supply of fresh fish to Juba urban markets.

The fisher-folk have set-up a ‘bush-shop’ in Terekeka to improve access to assorted fishing gears for more than 700 fishers in 78 fishing camps along the Nile River in Terekeka County.  Another achievement has been the construction of improved fish smoking kilns that produces low smoke and consumes low fuel wood.  PUMP helped set up a few demonstration kilns in selected fishing camps, but now fishers from different camps are constructing improved chor-kor in their respective fishing camps at their costs.  The chor-kor kiln ensures a ten-fold increase over the local kilns in the volume of fresh fish processed everyday.

Although insecurity along the Juba – Terekeka road affected fish supplies to Juba from Terekeka in the initial days of the conflict, the situation has seen normalised and fishers and transporters have resumed the delivery of fresh fish to Juba on a daily basis.

The PUMP project is implemented in a tripartite partnership arrangement involving SNV, the national NGO Compass and the government.  The government is represented by the State Ministry for Animal Resources and Fisheries (SMARF) for Central Equatorial State which has seconded technical staff on a fulltime basis to the project.  The national ministry responsible for fisheries provides oversight role, and the national director for fisheries sits on the project’s steering committee.