Malawi Institutionalizing Traditional Community- based Natural Resource Management NotesKI Malawi, a landlocked country in south- cause of the negative catch from Lake ern, central Africa, depends on its natu- Malawi, which provides about 60 per- ral resources, especially the agricul- cent of the national catch. ture sector, to meet the demands of a population of about 11 million people. The country has developed a remark- Background to fisheries able fishing industry, keeping in mind management in Malawi that about 20 percent of the area is Fisheries management in Malawi has covered by water, including the famous evolved from a traditional system to a http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm Lake Malawi (called Lake Nyasa by the centralized regime, followed by the re- riparian states, Mozambique and Tanza- cently introduced co-management fish- nia). Lake Malawi/Nyasa is the eighth eries systems. largest freshwater lake in the world, During colonial rule, and through and has the highest known biodiversity later regimes, a centralized managed of fish species, an estimated 1,000 system was in place. As in many other plus, of any lake in the world. Other countries, these centralized regimes important water bodies in Malawi are experienced a number of difficulties Lakes Chilwa, Malombe, and Chiuta, including: (i) a reluctance or inability No. 64 and the Shire River system. to explain to fisherfolk the role of, the January 2004 Fish is an essential part of the nutri- need for, and the time-frame of closed tional requirements of the population, supplying most of the animal protein IK Notes reports periodically on Indigenous Knowledge (IK) initiatives consumed, especially for low-income in Sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally households. More than 90 percent of on such initiatives outside the Region. the catch is landed by the artisanal fish- It is published by the Africa Region's Knowledge and Learning Center as eries sector; and it is estimated that part of an evolving IK partnership about 250,000 to 300,000 people from between the World Bank, communi- the primary and secondary sectors de- ties, NGOs, development institutions and multilateral organizations. The World Bank pend on the success and failure of the views expressed in this article are industry. those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank Group National landings comprised about or its partners in this initiative. A 78,000 tonnes in the 1980s but de- webpage on IK is available at // clined to 68,000 in 1998, mainly be- www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/ default.htm 2 seasons or the function of fishing licenses to control and like shore and open water seine nets, often operated with limit access into the fishery; (ii) inadequate surveillance, mosquito netting. monitoring, and control of fishing activities because of bud- The decentralization of decision-making to the fisherfolk get constraints; (iii) rules and regulations formulated during in Malawi coincided with the shift in Malawi's politics in a time when biological factors and population density were 1994 from an autocratic one-party state to a multiparty de- substantially different. In addition, these centralized re- mocracy. In the same year, the pilot measures of a commu- gimes often obliterated traditional leadership values in favor nity-based fisheries management program were imple- of state authority. mented through a project known today as the National Aquatic Resource Management Programme (NARMAP). In order to strengthen the capacity of the Department of From pilot co-management measures Fisheries, the project provided assistance through a reorien- to national implementation tation of the fisheries extension service, focusing on partici- The decline of fish catches led to the implementation of a patory extension methods. There was also a need to build new fisheries management strategy by the Department of local capacity and institutions at the community level. This Fisheries (DOF), carried out with assistance from the Federal work involved the formation of fisheries self-help organiza- Republic of Germany, through the German Technical Coop- tions--so called Beach Village Committees (BVCs)--that act eration (GTZ). The strategy included a decentralized, par- as intermediaries between the Department of Fisheries, the ticipatory management approach to replace the centralized fishing communities, and the local traditional chiefs, known management style, which had failed to enforce regulations, as traditional authorities (TAs). The rules and regulations of in particular the increased use of destructive fishing gear fishery are discussed with these groups, and can become by- laws in the fisheries regulations. IK Notes One of the program's main achievements was obtaining the legal backing for this community participation through an amendment of the Fisheries Act. The new Fisheries Con- would be of interest to: servation and Management Act (1997) passed by Parliament legitimizes local community participation in fisheries man- Name agement (Box 1). Institution The "Renaissance" of traditional fisheries Address management A great encouragement to the ongoing Community-based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) programs was the "rediscovery" of a traditional fisheries management scheme that regulates the fishery at Mbenji Island. The island-- Letters, comments, and requests for publications which is about nine square kilometers in size and located should be addressed to: about 10 km off the mainland (close to Salima, Central Lake Editor: IK Notes Malawi)--is in the area of the Sub-Traditional Authority Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank Msosa, Nema Village, Salima District. 1818 H Street, N.W., Mailstop J8-811 The fishery is based on Utaka, a plankton-feeding group of Washington, D.C. 20433 species of the Genus "Copadichromis"-- members of the E-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org Chichlid Family. Unlike other areas of Lake Malawi, the fish- ery at Mbenji has thrived for many years without any signifi- 3 cant sign of decline. The reason for this is the strict manage- Box 1: Malawi- The Fisheries Conservation ment regime of Chief Msosa (a former teacher) and his advi- and Management Act (1997) sory committee, which consists of elders and fishermen. Malawi's Fisheries Conservation and Management Act The fishery has been managed in this way since the early (1997) legitimizes local community participation in the 1950s, when an elder instituted regulations on fishing activi- management of local fisheries. It provides the legal frame- ties. Traditional belief holds that contravention would offend work to implement co-management strategies by: the spirits that control the availability of fish around the island. · Providing for the formation of management committees by persons engaged in fishing to participate in the con- A major aspect of the island's fisheries management sys- servation and management of fisheries resources; tem is an annual closed season, which begins in December · Facilitating the implementation of a fisheries manage- and runs to March/April of the following year to allow stocks ment agreement between local communities and the to recover. During the closed season (which also runs parallel Director of Fisheries (DoF), based on a management plan negotiated between the DoF and the community; to the season of high agricultural activity), nobody is allowed · Committing the DoF to assist in the implementation of to stay on the island or fish in the surrounding waters. the management plan; The closing and the opening are accompanied by ceremo- · Giving these management committees the power to nies and follow a strict agenda. During both occasions the scrutinize applications of fishing vessels and fishing li- censes; keep records of fishing vessels; enforce fisheries fisheries committee (chaired by the chief) meets to discuss regulations; enforce conditions specified in licenses and what went well and what went wrong during the previous seize fishing vessels and fishing gears; fishing season, and if any contravention of the regulations · Allowing for communities to make area-specific by-laws had occurred. Most offenders are warned or prosecuted pertaining to gear, area, and temporal restrictions and allowing for revenue sharing between government and (which is often a fine payable in kind). Serious offenders are communities. banned for the next season. Events during the ceremonies also involve traditional dances and a public address by the chief reemphasizing the regular contributors to the bi-weekly fisheries radio program observance of the regulations and the standing disciplinary "Usodzi Walero" of the Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation--a restrictions. Fisheries regulations include a limitation to project-sponsored program with a large audience and impact fishing gear, mesh size regulations (e.g., no mosquito net- at the community level. Also with the help of NARMAP, clos- ting), and banning of the use of light to attract fish. ing and opening ceremonies were used to bring together tra- To avoid conflict among the numerous fishermen on the ditional leaders from all over Malawi to study the scheme island, the regulations also include a ban on alcohol, gam- and discuss it with the chief. bling, and marijuana (Chamba). In addition, the presence of The most successful outcome was the banning of all seine women is not permitted. Fish trade (which is usually done by net activities at Lake Chiuta, which was announced in 1999 women) takes place at the beach opposite of Mbenji Island, by Paramount Chief Kawinga at the request of the local com- the location from where the supply crafts leave after being munity and the local Chief Nkokwe. The seine net fishery inspected by members of the fishing committee. (mainly an open-water seine net called Nkacha) was prac- ticed by nonresident, migrant fishermen who had "invaded" Lake Chiuta since 1996. The use of seine nets had caused a Impact of the Mbenji Island scheme severe decline in the catches of the traditional fishery-- With permission of the chief, the Mbenji scheme was used which was done with gill nets and traps--and to conflicts be- for sensitization and propagation of the initiative in the vari- tween resident and nonresident fishermen. The ban led to ous sectors linked to CBNRM initiatives. Chief Msosa is an the peaceful eviction of about 300 seine net units and to the eloquent and powerful speaker who, in his speeches, also recovery of the traditional lake fishery within two years. The talks about the fight against corruption and the HIV/AIDS case of Lake Chiuta was included in the extension messages epidemic. He and fishermen from Mbenji Island are also of the Department of Fisheries. 4 As a result of these exchanges visits and radio messages, In Malawi, awareness of the need to conserve fish stocks is traditional leaders from different parts of Malawi began tak- increasing, and extension messages regarding the conserva- ing similar initiatives. For example, in the Lower Shire, Lake tion of these stocks are popular. Through the example of the Chilwa, and Chia Lagoon (Lake Malawi), Chief Msosa and Mbenji Island scheme and its champion, Chief Msosa, the two other traditional leaders are permanent members of the countryiswitnessingagrowingcommitmenttothesustainable Fisheries Advisory Board, which meets biannually to advise use of natural resources for the benefit of local communities. the Minister of Natural Resources on matters concerning the fishery. This article was written by Dr. Uwe Scholz, head of sector aquatic resources management at the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Dr. Sloans Chimatiro, the Director of Fisheries, Malawi.