Progress report for
Illuminating Hidden Harvests: The contribution of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development
Achievement at a glance
The IHH study team has developed a methodology to collect and collate SSF data from different existing data sources at national and international levels. The data will go into a global database to produce estimates of the benefits and impacts of SSF around the world. \r\n Over 200 local and international scientists and practitioners in case study countries have been engaged to help identify existing data and studies most relevant to the small-scale fisheries sector.\r\n To date, more than 50 country case studies have been finalized or are in the final phases of the IHH data collection. These countries represent around 70 percent of the total marine fisheries catch and around 80 percent of the global inland fisheries catch. The case study results will be used to project global estimates.\r\n An ad-hoc questionnaire on SSF data was sent to 228 FAO member countries and territories. The team has already received 104 responses (45% response rate), which will feed into the global estimates of IHH.\r\n A data team is in place to design a data management system that will store and assist with the analysis of the data and information being collected in the study.\r\n Global experts have been engaged to produce a series of thematic studies covering key themes that cannot be adequately quantified at global level. These include, for example, importance of SSF for employment at subnational level, SSF value chains, gender, SSF impacts on ecosystems and vulnerable species.\r\n The IHH Technical Advisory Group (TAG), composed of international experts in different aspects of SSF (environmental, social, nutrition, economic, gender, governance) met with the IHH core team in July 2019 to discuss and provide important feedback to the IHH data collection and analysis. A second meeting is planned for April 2020.Challenges faced in implementation
The lack of established and consistent data collection on SSF in several countries and the challenges of using several diverse and non-conventional data sources to produce a coherent and high quality global database on SSF\r\n Ensuring that country case studies provide a good global coverage and are well representative of the SSF sector in the different regions \r\n General scarcity of data on specific aspects related to SSF, such as gender, nutrition, and pre- and post-harvesting sectors\r\n Quantifying the importance of SSF for food and nutrition security. This aspect has been particularly challenging because it entailed the need to put together highly multidisciplinary country teams to create a link across the different disciplines (and data) which in many instances was not already thereNext Steps
• Case study results are expected to be finalized by mid 2020.\r\n• The project will produce a major synthesis report in late 2020.\r\n• Thematic studies and possibly some country case studies will be published as separate reports and scientific journal articles where appropriate.\r\n• A major communications effort will accompany the project, involving close engagement with key stakeholders to understand communication needs to support small-scale fishery communities and the drive to implement the SSF Guidelines.\r\n• Methods developed for the IHH study will be made available, including in the form of e-learning, to facilitate their uptake. This is expected to further support capacity development in relation to gathering and analysing information on small-scale fisheries.Beneficiaries
National governments and fisheries institutions: For case study countries, the study is expected to offer expert synthesis of existing survey and research data that can provide new policy-relevant understandings of the diverse contributions of the national inland and marine small-scale fisheries sectors.\r\n Small-scale fisheries advocates, in particular small-scale fisheries organizations: Small-scale fisheries organizations and related civil society/non-governmental organizations supporting small-scale fisheries actors at national, regional and international level are important voices in advocating for a productive, equitable and sustainable future for small-scale fisheries grounded in the principles of the SSF Guidelines. The IHH study will provide new evidence in a way that can be used by communities and advocates to make a strong case for investment in the sector.\r\n Science and development communities: For both advocates and research partners in the sector, local contextual and high-level synthesized data and information on the contributions of small-scale fisheries are important in setting the priorities, direction and design of research.