Benin: Ganvie, the village of the water men

Built in the 18th century and dubbed the African Venice, Ganvie, a lake village in Benin, has always attracted tourists from around the world. Its inhabitants, the men of the water, mainly live from fishing. In recent years, the village has faced major ecological problems.

Located to the north of Cotonou, the Beninese (is this the correct reference?) capital, Ganvie is described by travellers as picturesque and beautiful, with its wooden houses jutting out onto Lake Nokoué. "What strikes you first when you arrive in Ganvie is the beauty of the area. Once you find out a little about the history of the village, it becomes clear that this place also symbolises the courage and determination of human beings, who, in coming to settle in this place, chose to take their fate into their own hands," said a Belgian traveller who visited Ganvie a few years ago. The village was founded in the early eighteenth century by men and women who migrated out of desperation in an attempt to escape the tribal wars and slave raids of the time and took refuge in the swamps. Since 1996 it has been listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Fishing, the main activity

Today the village has nearly thirty thousand inhabitants, known as the toffinous or men of the water. The villagers are given this nickname because their entire lives take place on the water. Without a guide, it is difficult for a visitor to navigate the maze of huts or find their way through the constant movement of the pirogue boats. But for the village community, there is nothing more normal than leaving home to go about their daily business, switching from one lane to another in the water just as they would on land. The village has a floating market where women buy and sell all manner of goods. The area we might call the business district is also home to the village's bars where the young people meet up, to the restaurants and hotels that welcome tourists who are passing through the village, as well as to the schools, health centres and places of worship.

The main activity in Ganvie is, of course, fishing, which is passed down from father to son, using the acadjas technique, which involves creating an enclosure which mimics the natural environment in which the fish live. In an experiment conducted by ID-Pêche, a Beninese NGO, in partnership with the village community, it was discovered that the acadja (branch enclosures) in which the fish are born, feed and grow, is a technique for breeding, providing shelter to, and eventually catching the fish. "Acadja can be seen as a method of restoring biodiversity and as an income generating technique practiced by the vast majority of fishermen in southern Benin," says the report, which describes it as a socio-economic activity which contributes to food security. According to ID-Pêche, acadjas are among the most productive inland fisheries techniques used in Benin, and this is especially true in Lake Nokoué. In fact, by using this technique, the fish stock is constantly renewed, which contributes to reducing the amount of fish imported.

The threatened environment

But all is not rosy in Ganvie. The village is facing environment-related problems. Human waste and household rubbish, which is dumped directly into the lake, is causing significant environmental damage and disrupting the balance of the lake ecosystem. In fact, for visitors to the lake, it is not uncommon to see the spectacle of young boys who lean over the side of their pirogues and relieve themselves directly into the water. Other environmental risks are related to the filling of the lake. According to Lucien Dehy, a former rural development inspector and executive director of the NGO ID-Pêche, quoted by the daily Benin newspaper, La Nation: "The phenomenon of the filling of the lake became worrying in the 1980s with the proliferation of the water hyacinth. It disrupted the natural flow of the water and navigation, as well as compromising productivity. When the water level decreases, its salinity increases. When the water hyacinth dies it decomposes and decreases the oxygen content in the water. This has a serious effect on aquatic life. Rubbish, solid waste and sludge that the residents are increasingly dumping in the lake is the other cause of the filling of the lake. The residents are still trying to find new spaces to build houses.”

The water hyacinth, a native of the Amazon, is a beautiful flower with purple petals and a yellow centre. Discovered in Benin in the late 1970s, it proliferates at an extremely high speed and it also attracts mosquitoes, the carriers of malaria. According to Lucien Dehy, “when it putrefies, the hyacinth emits unpleasant odours and pollutes the water, causing a reduction in the number of phytoplankton.”

To preserve the village of Ganvie, measures urgently need to be taken to restore Lake Nokoué's ecosystem. To replenish fish stocks, the villagers are implementing programmes and projects to protect all the bodies of water, including the fish farming areas. The newspaper "La Nation" highlighted, among other programmes and projects, the "Participatory Artisanal Fisheries Development Support Programme" (PADPPA), the Benin "Fisheries industry development support" project (ADEFIH) and another project to rejuvenate the ecosystem led by the NGO-ID-Pêche.

These actions also aim to change behaviour and to emphasise awareness among, and encourage the participation of, the village communities in the search for sustainable solutions.

- Fishing Ganvié: sustainable management of fisheries resources by fishermen, authors: community of acadja owners of Ganvié and ID - Pêche ;
 
- "La Nation" 11/02/2010: http://www.lanation.gouv.bj/affiche_article.php?num_article=427

Seydou Sarr - InfoSud