SusFish

The SUSFISH project resultsfrom a Partnership, which started in 2006 in managing the fisheries and waters ofBurkina Faso. The work Started with a PhD Scholarhip and was later carried out by a consortium of researchers and developers dealing with fish in Burkina Faso (Institute for Environment and Agricultural Research, University Pr. Joseph KI-ZERBO,University Nazi BONI, International Union for the Nature Conservation and General Directorate for Fish Resources) and Austria (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences,University of Vienna)with the financial assistance of the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Researchfor Development. They all workedas a team in the frameworkof the Project named SUSFISH that stands for Sustainable Management of Water and Fish Resourcesin Burkina Faso. This phase undertaking lasted from 2011 to 2014 and from 2016to 2021.

As an arid country,Burkina Faso has implemented a programme of reservoir construction to provide people with water for all uses. As a result, more than 1,500 bodies of water are currently used for irrigation, livestock breeding, domestic needs, industrial use, power generation, and fishing. For quite some time, fishingwas not taken into consideration in the planningand valuation of reservoir creation. However, nowadays,fishing and aquaculture are increasingly included as complementary purposes in water resourcedevelopment, especially for large reservoirs. Therefore, in line with national development policies, the goalof the SUSFISH projecthas been to build capacityin fisheries management by providing reliable information and strengthening human resources.

SUSFISH reflectwork that continues from the cooperation between Austria and Burkina Faso, which began around 1960 with a professional training programme for Burkinabe youth. Yet, in the SUSFISH Project,the development of human resources targetedmainly higher education by improving curricula in water- and fisheries-related domains, and by contributing to the supervision of students’ studies and research in Burkinaand in Austria.

The project members' commitment to working together and tackling real problems in the fisheries sector yielded interesting results that covered facets of the natural, political, and human sciences related to Burkinabefisheries and aquaticecosystems. This researchencompassed a systemic assessment of how links and interactions within and between these facets affected Burkinabefisheries, including threatsto Burkinabe aquatic ecosystems, climate change, fish and benthic macroinvertebrates, and socio-economic factors. This book does not claim to provide a complete description of the Burkinabe fisheries and water resources. But at least it provides insight and impetus for development and research in that sphere; thus, it provides understanding of the socio-economic development of African inland waters.

The SUSFISH books in English and French end with recommendations to guide the development of science and policy for a better future in fisheries. This critical summary follows the new political trend toward a long-term vision for the development of fish resources, as shown by the current national fisheries strategy. In addition several videos underline the socio-ecological impact of the project