Improving Fisheries and Aquaculture Value Chains in the Mediterranean within the Blue Growth Initiative (SVC4MED) is a four-year project, funded by the Directorate General of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Government of Italy, and implemented by FAO. SVC4MED aims to improve wild shrimps and farmed rainbow trout value chains in the Mediterranean by maximizing economic and social benefits to society, while minimizing negative impacts on the environment, in line with the FAO Blue Transformation Initiative.
Key countries selected to implement project activities within SVC4MED are Albania, Italy, Lebanon, Tunisia and Turkey. The planned project activities include data collection on a number of performance indicators along the value chain, on the basis of which to analyse the structure, dynamics and performance of the system and develope visions for value chain upgrading. Involvement of local partners and stakeholders throughout the process is an essential part of the project.
The project kick-off meeting took place on 23rd and 24th February and was attended by representatives of the national partners and consultants, who will have the primary responsibility for collecting and analysing data and developing upgrading strategies for the selected value chains in their countries. A total of 18 participants joined the workshop over the two days, in addition to representatives by the project management unit.
The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech by Mr Audun Lem, Deputy Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, and was followed by introductions of the participants from each country. The rest of the meeting focused on presenting and discussing the logistical process and methodological approach for the project in order to build capacity and enhance participants¿ understanding of the standardised analytical framework.
SVC4MED¿s methodological approach is an adaptation of the FISH4ACP project methodology for fisheries and aquaculture value chain analysis, which builds on FAO guiding principles on Sustainable Food Value Chain (SFVC) and Value Chain Analysis for Development (VCA4D) of the European Commission.. FAO defines sustainable food value chains as ¿the full range of farms and firms and their successive coordinated value-adding activities that produce particular raw agricultural materials and transform them into particular food products that are sold to final consumers and disposed of after use, in a manner that is profitable throughout, has broad-based benefits for society and does not permanently deplete natural resources(1)¿. This is a holistic approach designed to identify and understand the core factors and interrelated constraints associated with all main components of the system (see figure below) and enable the identification of upgrading opportunities.
(1) FAO. 2014. Developing sustainable food value chains - Guiding principles. Rome