Developing, testing and growing with coastal communities 

Our journey of building the capacity of BMU leaders started in 2019. To date, we have trained 225 BMU leaders from 15 BMUs in Kwale and Kilifi counties on  leadership, financial management, record keeping, and fisheries management. Similarly, we have mentored 150 BMU leaders on their roles and responsibilities, developing work plans and budgets, and conflict resolution. Capacity building is a continuous process, and we intend to build on it and reach more BMU leaders so as to improve BMU operation and fisheries management.

Developing, Testing and Growing Together

This year, we are progressively building our degree of influence in governance and fisheries management. Our belief is that collaboration between the government, NGOs, and Community Based Organizations will help improve the operation of Beach management Units (BMUs), leading to greater conservation outcomes.

In May 2023, we extended our support for building the capacity of Bahari Hai (BH) staff in governance and fisheries management. The discussion focused on how to conduct theory of change and BMU capacity assessment to inform needs and interventions, as well as how to conduct governance project evaluation to measure the impact of activities being implemented. In addition, we supported Bahari Hai in training 25 BMU leaders from Uyombo and Watamu BMUs on leadership, roles and responsibilities, financial management, and BMU by-laws.

Capacity-building will ensure that the leaders are well equipped with knowledge and tools to address emerging challenges in small-scale fisheries such as illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, overfishing, and pollution.

This initiative is in line with our goal of ‘supporting governance and management of coastal and marine ecosystems in coastal communities and cities.’

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