2.6 Securing and managing funds for activities
For resource management organisations to operate sustainably and improve their activities, they need to obtain funds for their activities and ensure that these funds are properly managed and raised. To this end, resource management organisations must conduct income-generating activities, receive support from the government and donors, and create mechanisms to receive cooperative funds from relevant organisations to secure the funds for activities.
The following are ways in which members of resource management organisations can secure and manage funding for their activities with the assistance of officials from the Fisheries Service and other government agencies:
- Generate funds through the resource management organisation’s own activities
- Utilise the government’s institutional support mechanisms
- Obtain sponsorship funds from partner companies
- Strengthen fund management capacity
Generate funds through the resource management organisation’s own activities.
This section examines the ways in which resource management organisations can raise funds; for example, by collecting funds from their members to implement activities or by executing economic activities themselves and using some of the proceeds to fund resource management activities. Examples of resource management organisations raising funds through their own activities in Senegal include joint shipping operations, refuelling station operations, and the operation of fishmeal factories with the support of JICA projects.
18. Generating funds for resource management organisation activities through the management of fishmeal plants
JICA's COGEPAS project has supported the establishment of a fishmeal factory project in Kayar on the Grande-Côte and in Joal on Petite-Côte, to generate funds for CLPA activities. The was an attempt to address the situation where the activities of many CLPAs stagnated owing to lack of budget for their activities. Many income generating activities, such as flour mills, which were introduced to finance the activities of resource management organisations and improve family management of fishermen, have been abandoned as unsustainable. An adequate technology transfer plan and a careful management plan are needed to maintain the introduced machines.
Utilise the government’s institutional support mechanisms.
Senegal has a system in which part of the government’s tax revenue is subsidised to fund the activities of the CLPAs that are responsible for resource management activities. It is important to understand the existence and functions of this system, which provides part of the relevant tax revenues to finance the activities of resource management organisations, and to examine the possibility of using it.
6. Budgetary measures for CLPAs in Senegal
For CLPAs to operate on a voluntary basis, it needs a source of funding. However, at the beginning of the creation of CLPAs, the law on financial schemes was not up to date. Joint Ministerial Order No. 001808 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy of 15 March 2006 states that 60% of artisanal fishing licence fees (hereafter referred to as licence fees) is made available to the CLPAs, which supervises fishing vessels, to finance its activities. However, once the fee was paid into the national treasury, it was never returned to CLPAs.
Joint Ministerial Order No. 003733 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy of 11 April 2011 states that the share of the fee allocated to the CLPAs shall be managed by the management committee of the relevant department, represented by the county governor. It was also decided that the funds would be financed not only by 60% of the licence fee but also by 30% of the fee for the application for a fishmonger's card, as well as grants from the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, support fees from donors and NGOs, and part of the various licence fees related to artisanal fishing.
Although the joint ministerial decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy set up a financial system to enable the CLPAs to function, 60% of the licence fees still remained in the national treasury and could not be used by the CLPAs. CLPA members from all over the country have regularly complained about this. Owing to the lack of funds, the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy distributed 3.25 million FCFA to all CLPAs. Now they are required to prepare a business plan and budget and submit it to the CLPA executive committee, which consists of such parties as departmental governor, departmental fisheries director, fishermen, and wholesalers. If the business plan is approved, they will receive the budget from a bank.
Here is an example: in 2017, CLPA Lompoul spent 1.25 million FCFA on activities including capacity building for members, assessment, monitoring activities, and travelling cost for meetings. The remaining 2 million FCFA was planned to be used for visits to Dakar by female processors and retailers to improve the quality and hygiene of fish products, and for multiple participatory monitoring activities.
19. Administrative processes for resource management organisations to apply for government funding
Resource management organisations, such as the CLPA, can apply for government funding for their activities through a system whereby the Senegalese government provides part of relevant tax revenues to fisheries resource management organisations to fund their activities. Such organisations submit an annual report of their activities and an activity plan for the following year to the government’s Fisheries Directorate for review and evaluation, and on this basis receive the necessary budgetary measures for the following year's activities. The following diagram illustrates the administrative procedure.
to obtain institutional funding
Obtain sponsorship funds from partner companies.
As an outcome of the activities to strengthen collaboration within the fisheries value chain described in Section 2.5, is it possible to obtain support for activities in the form of sponsorship funds from fishing companies and other related businesses? This possibility will be explored, and a mechanism to secure funding for resource management activities through the sponsorship funds of relevant organisations will be considered.
20. Sponsorship funds for fishery resource management activities by fishing enterprises
In the case of octopus resource management activities in the department of Mbour, sponsorship funds from companies exporting octopus abroad have made it possible to produce and deploy octopus pots for spawning each year, promoting the development of new octopus stocks.
Strengthen fund management capacity.
To manage activity funds properly, resource management organisations should request capacity-building training in accounting and financial auditing from government agencies. Based on the knowledge and skills gained, a system can be created to properly manage activity funds and implement and monitor resource management activities.
