By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Sept. 33, GNA – The School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland has donated office equipment to the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG).
The donation was done as part of the Creating Synergies between Indigenous Practices and Scientific Knowledge (ISIPSK) project.
The equipment included a laptop, tablet, printer, projector, camera, hard drive, and digital voice recorder.
The ISIPSK project, also known as the Sankofa project, whose implementation is led by Dr. Okafor-Yarwood Ifesinachi of the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, is aimed at investigating the gendered socio-economic effects of fisheries closures on fishermen and identifying practices inspired by local ecological knowledge to integrate with state-sanctioned, scientifically informed management interventions in Ghana.
Nana Kweigyah, the National President of CaFGOAG, told the Ghana News Agency that the equipment would have a lasting impact on the work of the association to continue advancing the issues of artisanal fishers.
He said the collaboration with the University of St Andrews on the ISIPSK project marked a turning point for CaFGOAG, as it was their first cross-border collaboration involving the joint implementation of a funded project.
“The ISIPSK project has significantly enhanced CaFGOAG’s capacity and credibility. It facilitated direct collaboration between CaFGOAG, the Fisheries Commission, and the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea. This collaboration has boosted CaFGOAG’s capacity for implementing funded projects, and skills essential for almost all grant applications.”
The project, he added, has also provided them with relevant skills that significantly influenced their application for an external grant such as the Transform Bottom Trawling (TBT) Coalition Grant Programme, in which CaFGOAG has been granted
US$15,000 to implement a project titled “Advancing Artisanal Fishers’ Rights through Equitable Co-Management (Fishers’ Rights Project).”
He said the interest among canoe owners at various landing beaches in forming their own national association motivated CaFGOAG’s leadership to persevere amidst challenges, noting that they have since begun collaborating with institutions and organisations, including the Ghana Meteorological Agency and the Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience at the Centre for Coastal Management, among others, to promote the issues of fishers.
GNA