Report of the Preparatory Technical Meeting on Propulsion in Fishing Canoes in West Africa
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IDAF / WP 117 March 1987 REPORT OF THE PREPARATORY TECHNICAL MEETING ON PROPULSION IN FISHING CANOES IN WEST AFRICA FAO! DANNDALNOWAY IDAF/WP/17 March 1987 REPORT OF THE PREPARATORY TECHNICAL MEETING ON PROPULSION IN FISHING CANOES IN WEST AFRICA Freetown, Sierra Leone 15-JO November, 1986 by R 3. Campbell Programme de Développement Intégré des Pêches Artisanales en Afrique de 1Ouest -DIPA Programme for integrated Development. of Artisanal Fisheries in West Africa lOAF Gcp/RAF/192/DE:N Gcp/RAF/198/DE:N GCP/RAF/19 7/NOR With financial assistance from Denmark and Norway, and in collaboration with the Peoples Republic of Benin, the Fisheries Depart- ment of FAO is implementing in West Africa a programme of small scale fisheries development, commonly called the IDAF Project. This programme is based upon an integrated approach, involving production, processing and marketing of fish, and related activities ; it also involves, in particular, an active and full participation of the target fishing comrnu- nities, IDAF Project Boite Postale 1369 Cotonou, RP. du Bénin Télex 5291 F000AGRI Tél. 330925/330624 Mr R. J. Campbell is on the staff of MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd, and was an IDAF Consultant when he prepared for the Mee- ting and wrote up the report. The lOAF Consultant Mr, AD R. Coackley also contributed greatly to preparations. The Meeting was an informal discussion between FAO staff, tecft- nical personnel from a range of development projects in the region and representatives of several marine engine manufacturers. It was aimed at generating an exchange of information, experiences ad ideas between projects and of identifying ways of improving communications and coordi-. nation in the future. The Meeting was informally structured and consisted of field excursions, vessel triais and round-.tabie discussions. Perhaps the most useful lessons learned were during the evenings when participants with common problems identified during the day, discussed ideas in more detail. This format for discussion proved extremely productive and much ground was covered in the few days It does not, however, easily lend itself to a sequential record of the points covered. This report, therefore, is aimed at recording the spirit of the discussions over the period and although adhering broadly to the order in which they occured, is more concerned with the relevance of discussIon to one another than to their timing. C0NTENT Introduction Participants 7 4eeting Organisation anc Agenda lo Field Excursion to Goderich 15th November 11 Round Tb1e Discussion 16th November 13 5.1. Introduction to IDAF 13 5.2. introduction to the concept of the meeting 1 5.3. The dìvcrsity and scope of canoe propulsionprojects 15 5.4. The Benin Model Project 5.5. The Integruted Development of Rural Fishing Villages1 Thenge Region 20 5.6. The Tambia Fisheries ieve1opment Project 21 5.7. The Fisheries Pilot Project, Tombo 22 5.8. Relance de la Peche Artisanal a Ojifere 24 5.9. Discussion of project diversity 25 5.10. TechMcal innovations in Senegsi 2B 5.l1.Technjcal innovations in Benin 30 5.12.Techriicai innovations in Kambia, Sierra Leone 5.13.Technical innovatìona in Tombe, Sierra Leoue 34 5.14.Discussion of 'Technical innovations 36 6 Field Excursion to Tombe - 17th November 39 7. Round Table Piscusion - lth November 411 7.1. introduction to the broader issues ofpropulsion development 41 7.2. fliscusion on the hroarlei' aspocts ofpropulsion 43 7.3. Past and present use ofaii in WestAfrica 52 7.4. The Sheage Project sail t'iaJs 53 7.5. Generni Discussion on sail 54 7.8. The future activities of West Africanprepuls ieri deve1opnent. 56 8. A preliminary list of refereflces concerning fishing canoe propulsion in West Africa. 61 Appendix Experi.enees at Tombo 74 * TNTRODUCTIOI Research ed developntt Ï oto improved fishing canoe propulsion systens plays a role in many smali-acale fisheries projects in West Afrtct The importance of the canoe propulsion cosponent relative toother activities within specific projects varies considerably. Projects do however, sharencc'mon growth urgency to find solutions to the problei of high fuel consurnption within the 9rtisanal fleet artd the resultant drain of foreign e,change and the declining economic viability of fishing communities In his .IDAF Working Paper of 19i5 eat:itled "A preliminary account of attempts to introduce alternative types of small craft intoWest Africa", Oyvi ud (ulbrnndsen identified t enty-four distinct triaLs with modified motori sat i or systems almud at the ortisarial sector. In addition to the, there have been numerous sai1 trialsthroughout West Afrie4 and an uxpansì.on in diec1 motorLit1ou since the t985 euve This multiplicity of research effort must.,to nu extent,reflectthe diversityoflocal roiuirement.s caused by variations Ñfl traditonni vesseldesigni operatingsurfconditions,availabilityoflocal materials and the demands ofch local fishery Itislikely1however,thnt much research effort is wostudinthe region through the needless duplication of tri als r ulting frompoor communication b etween projects and poor coordinat ionofact ivi t les. Realising the need for urgent solutions to the problems of canoe propulsion in West Africa and recognìnì.ng the paucity of successful large-'scaiu innovations in ttis field, IDF ac1noledged clear need to sscss the past, present and future directions offishing canoe propulsionand to promote aninformalforumaìmedatimproving communications and coordination within the region. As a consequence, terhnicnl personnel from a range of projects in West Africa were iuvited to join FAO staff in an informal discuss-ion session in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in November iE6. A selection of marine engine manufacturers, currently involved wìth projects in theregion, were also invited to send technical representatives. The discussion sess:i.ont.00lthe fornì of a preparatory technical meeting involving both fieldexcursions nd a round--table exchange of information and ideas. The meeting's success hinged, very much, on the informality of its organisation and the willingness of participants to candid].y discuss their experiences and to learn fromeach other's success and failures. Sierra Leone w*oa most s cite verme mrthe reeting es itsstatus asa least: developed net i on und ite eurrent economic problenissharply focussedthoettex,tionof part: cipoots on theproblemsofforeign eehage shortages and of poor loglet le support Au underetmding of theseproblemsisltlto thereessofanyprojectsimedat transferring techriologj peoisi .ly those involving engines andspare parts Sierre Leone is fortusat e in huvi.ng three rete fisheriesprojects funded by three spiate açjeocíes ailnvoived in vriow aspectsof fishingcuneepropulolen. iLrnssththeirdesign, funcUng, irplemontaUonend object ivegivesowe t cation of the copieity of the o opul si cm p oblew e iet 'hdiv ity uf pet eTvedolutons The history of' Sierra beone canoe fleet cen also be viewed es prophetic intheeuse that the country s past lad nf irge treest'ord'ugouls and the subsequent avolut ion of the large planked veseJ.s representsa develp»tentphese wk ohmay affect the whole ofWestAfrica. The olutiou found for euch country mayot te the some nnSierraLeone buttudy of the process may provide useful indicators fordevelepmeut planning. Theselection of p rtic pents for e niceting of this kìnd isaiwsysa difficult task.The moetiuwes intended to conform in practice to its t it le and prepare tho t. chnícel groundwork fr possible futureact i on. As Buch, itwasdecided. to limitdevelopmentpersonneltothose activelyinvolved in cunee propulsion triaIs and Luinvih?e limited nwber of manufacturersho were current i y working in conjunct ionwIth Iest African canoe propulsion projects Thedecisiontoconduct the meeting inthe.Englishlanguagemust obviouslylimitits scope in a region which not only hasmnny ocal langudg sbuihs mcin3 of i unen t ddml u tst dtns per dt throughthe medium of French. The. me&.ing wus fortunateinhav:tng seine French spe&cinig representatives-xo were equally fluent in English nd t itcì tbt i . xpcn i c'nc e' in the g oui c i pt eutcd na balanced way. Themeeting began on the ith N'ember with en excur ionto ode.ricb fishìnvi linse where pert icipant a were able to study a range of veosel types end observe the selling of fishn the beach undl so ti'ntditionn.l fi.h process inpractices. The trip ppied much informal discussion ofcomparati vevessel construction methods endsIwre-liiieoperating conditions. 5 The followingday started with an introduction to the evolution of existing propulsion systems in West Africa and to the dîversity of the various development projects in the region, Thi.s was followed by each major project being describedin detail in termsof theirohjectives duration, size, scope, ìnfr'astructure, achievements and constraints. Thiswas designed to piace in context the different environments in which. various technical innovations in rropuisionhave evolved andto emphasise the influence of policy and planning cm achievements. After lunch, the technical developments achieved within each project werediscussedindetail and comparisons madebetween respective projects. Emphasis was placed on the need to consider the effect of local demands of the envìronment traditional vessel design end fishthg techniques in engineering innovations. Projects discussed the evolution of particular technical developments and theirrelationship to local behavioural practices. On the 17th November a second excursion was arranged, this time to the Fisheries Pilot Project, Tombo. Participants