Reducing Food Dependence

Strengthening safety at sea and reducing dependence on food imports, particularly meat, are the main objectives of an initiative launched on Friday, March 21, in Mwali.

130 fishermen from 17 cooperatives received modern equipment to improve their working conditions. This distribution of equipment was organized by the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture, and Livestock, as part of the Food Systems Resilience Project in the Comoros (FSRP-KM).

The equipment provided included waterproof clothing, life jackets, flashlights for night fishing, knives, floats, and nets and hooks adapted to different fish species. The fishermen also received fish aggregating devices (FADs), tools that help attract fish to a specific location to facilitate their capture and improve local production.

The Secretary General of the Mwali Governorate, Dr. Mouayadi Saïd Anli, and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Saandia Abdoulkader, were present at the handover ceremony. The Secretary General also announced that the government is planning other initiatives, including the provision of a launch for search operations in the event of a missing person at sea.

The FSRP-KM project, funded by the World Bank over six years, aims to strengthen food self-sufficiency in the Comoros. While welcoming this assistance, fishermen expressed the need for GPS devices to improve their safety at sea.