Adapting tuna-dependent Pacific Island communities and economies to climate change

This project will build resilience in tuna-dependent economies and communities by addressing food insecurity and economic risks caused by climate change. It will achieve this by enhancing access to tuna for coastal and urban communities, strengthening national fisheries systems, and improving forecasting to manage tuna redistribution effectively. Key activities will include technical support for Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) deployment, fisher training, post-harvest improvement; policy development, improved handling, and market opportunities; and using science-based forecasts and projections to reduce uncertainty in climate change-driven tuna redistribution.
This project covers 14 PICs and uses a comprehensive programmatic approach to address food security and the economic stability of tuna fisheries. It prioritises community-driven adaptation by deploying FADs, training fishers, and involving local stakeholders in decision-making. With women’s participation actively promoted, this inclusive approach ensures adaptation measures will align with local needs and traditional practices.
Source: GCF

Theory of Change: IF Pacific Island governments are supported to implement effective programmes for assisting coastal and urban communities to obtain and utilise more tuna, and are provided with improved information on climate change-driven redistribution of tuna; THEN Pacific Island nations will be transformed to become more resilient to key climate change threats facing the fisheries sector; BECAUSE communities and governments will be better informed and equipped to make optimal use of the fisheries resources on which they depend for food, livelihoods, and economic development.
Outcome 1: improved food availability of vulnerable communities in participating countries.
Outcome 2: strengthened capacity of tuna-dependent Pacific Island nations to negotiate for benefits from tuna stocks which are redistributed as a result of climate change.
Co-benefit 1: Improved livelihoods of vulnerable communities in participating countries.
Co-benefit 2: Strengthened management of industrial tuna fisheries by regional and national institutions.
Source: GCF

Output 1: Increased national capacity to access tuna and other pelagic fish for coastal communities
Output 2: Increased supply of bycatch and tuna from industrial fishing operations for urban and peri-urban communities.
Output 3: Improved forecasts and projections for climate -driven tuna redistribution which facilitate effective adaptations for all stakeholders.
Source: GCF

A Programme-level Gender Action Plan has been developed to encourage women’s participation, representation, and awareness in tuna fishing supply chains (Annex 08). This will seek to discourage gender biases among Programme participants and beneficiaries and/or ensure gender inequalities are not exacerbated by the Programme.
These actions, in addition to those presented in paragraph 196 above, will encourage gender dimensions to be mainstreamed in each country's context, responding to each's varied risks & opportunities. This encourages achievable targets, sex-disaggregated data collection, gender-responsive programme design features, and quantifiable performance indicators. Some activities that the GAP recommends include:
• Upskilling of programme stakeholders in Gender and GBV/SEAH dimensions to encourage greater awareness of men and women’s roles and safety in the FAD tuna fishing supply chain.
• Integrating gender considerations into important programme documents/outputs, including: workplans for country-level FAD scale-up and national natural disaster response mechanisms;
inclusion of women in all programme components - consultations, monitoring activities, training, and workshops; and equitable stakeholder engagements to identify sites for FAD deployment.
• Ensuring the Advanced Grievance Redress Mechanism (AGRM) (regional & national) are gender-responsive, with communications reaching women stakeholders and a mechanism to respond to GBV-related concerns/grievances.
• Providing targeted, gender-responsive training courses for women in coastal communities and urban communities to improve the preservation and hygiene of FAD-caught fish, including marketing opportunities. This includes awareness & resources to respond to GBV/SEAH-type risks that women may face as fish processors/marketers.
• Communications about the nutrition and benefits of FAD-caught tuna are gender-informed, recognising the roles that women play in household food preparation and decision-making.
• Producing learning documents from the Programme that showcase lessons and successes concerning gender-responsive implementation.
Source: GCF