Case Study - Water Governance in the Central African Republic: Water, Fishing and Fishery Sector

The Central African Republic is a vast country (623,000 km2) with low population density (around 4 million inhabitants) but with immense natural wealth (forests, fauna, minerals, etc.) and a very dense inland freshwater system. With regard to the achievement of the development objectives of the blue economy for economically vulnerable States, the Central African Republic, a landlocked country with no coastline, is often confronted with a lack of: (i) vision, (ii) governance, and (iii) major investments, that should logically lead to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as recommended by the United Nations (see box 1). Provisions for goals related to the blue economy are particularly relevant, in particular Goal 1 (eradicating poverty) and Goal 14 (protecting undersea life). The Central African Republic is aligned with that vision, in particular with Goal 1, which underpins the unrelenting search for solutions to provide subsistence to its population to contain poverty as the country emerges from several difficult periods of security-related instability.