African Union ministers have endorsed a Ten-Year Transformative Programme for Resilient and Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture — a continent-wide plan running from 2026 to 2035 that aims to fix the bottlenecks holding back Africa’s fisheries and fish farming. The endorsement was announced on 24 October 2026, with the programme presented by AU-IBAR Director Dr Huyam Salih at the closing meeting of the second Fisheries Governance Project (FishGov2).
The plan is the next phase of continental work on the sector, following two successive European Union-supported programmes — FishGov (2014 to 2018) and FishGov2 (2021 to 2026) — both guided by the African Union’s Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture (PFRS). It is not a single project: it is the framework that will steer fisheries and aquaculture policy, investment and cooperation across the continent for the next decade.
At a Glance
| Detail | What Was Endorsed |
|---|---|
| Programme | Ten-Year Transformative Programme for Resilient and Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture |
| Period | 2026–2035 |
| Endorsed by | African Union ministers |
| Presented by | AU-IBAR Director Dr Huyam Salih, at the closing meeting of FishGov2 |
| Phases | 2026–2029, 2030–2032, 2033–2035 |
| Predecessors | FishGov (2014–2018) and FishGov2 (2021–2026), both EU-supported |
| Framework | AU Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture (PFRS) |
| First-phase funding | Resource mobilisation under way; two investment concept notes prepared with AUDA-NEPAD |
The Problems It Targets
The programme starts from a frank diagnosis of what is holding African fisheries and aquaculture back:
- Degraded aquatic ecosystems and unsustainable pressure on capture fisheries
- Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
- Weak governance of small-scale fisheries, despite their central role in livelihoods
- High post-harvest losses — fish caught but lost before it reaches a buyer
- Limited access to finance for fishers, farmers and value-chain businesses
- Aquaculture bottlenecks: restricted access to quality seed, feed and technology, limiting production growth
The Four Outcomes
The programme sets out four main outcomes:
- Conserving aquatic ecosystems and improving the sustainability of capture fisheries
- Addressing constraints on aquaculture production — seed, feed, technology and finance
- Strengthening fish trade and value chains, so more value stays with producers
- Improving governance and policy enforcement across the sector
How It Will Roll Out
Implementation is divided into three phases — 2026–2029, 2030–2032 and 2033–2035. Resource mobilisation for the first phase is already under way, with two investment concept notes prepared with support from the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD to guide work on capture fisheries and aquaculture.
Delivery will rely on Regional Economic Communities to coordinate implementation, with national governments and private-sector actors responsible for delivering activities on the ground. AU-IBAR will facilitate and coordinate the process, and progress will be monitored through the existing Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Biennial Review, to avoid duplicating reporting requirements.
Financing will combine domestic government resources with partner contributions, including potential climate finance and private investment. Salih called for stronger evidence of the sector’s economic and social value to attract investors, highlighting the need to demonstrate expected returns — and urged partners to support a possible third phase of FishGov so the progress of the existing programme is maintained as the new framework moves towards implementation.
Why This Matters for Fisheries Students and Professionals
A ten-year continental framework means a decade of funded activity in fisheries governance, aquaculture development, value chains and monitoring — the exact areas where fisheries graduates, researchers and entrepreneurs work. For Indian readers, it is also a useful comparison: a continent coordinating seed, feed, technology and finance access for fish farmers, and tying it to trade and governance reform, is the same set of problems India’s own fisheries programmes are tackling. Watch the first-phase investment concept notes — they will show where the money actually goes first.
Official Sources
- Programme: Ten-Year Transformative Programme for Resilient and Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, African Union / AU-IBAR
- Predecessor programmes: FishGov (2014–2018) and FishGov2 (2021–2026), guided by the AU Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture
- Monitoring: CAADP Biennial Review
All facts above are taken from the report “African Union endorses 10-year fisheries and aquaculture programme” (Animal Business Middle East & Africa, published 24 October 2026, Addis Ababa), verified 25 October 2026. No total programme budget has been published in that report, so no budget figure is stated here. The images in this post are illustrations created for this post, not photographs of the programme’s events.