ETHIOPIA – The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, with financial backing from the European Union’s ECOFISH Project, recently organized a practical training session on gillnet making for the fishing communities around Lake Turkana.
The three-day workshop took place in Jinka Town, located in the South Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia.
This initiative is part of the broader IGAD-ECOFISH Project, which has been instrumental in developing and validating an Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) for the Lake Turkana Basin.
The plan emphasizes a co-management approach, advocating for the active participation of local fishers in the decision-making processes that govern the region’s fisheries.
A recent assessment by the ECOFISH Project identified significant capacity gaps among local fishers, one of which is the reliance on illegal monofilament nets due to the limited availability of legal multifilament gillnets.
To address this issue, the project has recommended empowering community members to produce their own gillnets, potentially transforming this skill into a sustainable livelihood.
At the training, Mr. Sidrak Lefeka, the South Omo Zone Livestock and Fisheries Extension Team Leader, highlighted the vast fish resources in Dasenech Woreda, a district bordering the Omo Delta region of Lake Turkana.
Speaking on behalf of IGAD’s Agriculture and Environment Division Director, Dr. Eshete Dejen, Programme Manager for the Sustainable Environment Protection Unit, expressed gratitude to the Ethiopian government for supporting IGAD’s efforts toward sustainable fishing in Lake Turkana.
He also acknowledged the role of the South Omo Zone Livestock and Fisheries Extension Office in identifying participants for the training, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Dasenech Woreda Fisheries Extension Experts.
Dr. Eshete noted that the training on gillnet making could significantly enhance household livelihoods and food security, particularly for women in fishing communities.
Dr. Fasil Dawit, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Desk Head at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, officially opened the training, expressing his appreciation to IGAD for organizing the event and the European Union for financing the project.
Dr. Dawit underscored the importance of the training in eliminating the use of illegal monofilament nets in Lake Turkana.
The objectives of the training included equipping local fishers with the skills to produce multifilament gillnets, encouraging the use of legal fishing gear, diversifying livelihoods, and building the capacity of fishing communities to reduce reliance on illegal methods.
The training resulted in the production of legal gillnets by the participants and raised awareness of gillnet making as a potential livelihood option for women and youth in the region.
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