Ms. Joyce Ikwaput Nyeko is the Deputy Executive Director of the newly formed Lake Edward and Albert Fisheries and Aquaculture Organization (LEA-FAO). LEA-FAO is an intergovernmental organization between Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda created to implement a Bilateral Fisheries Agreement signed in 2018 by the two partner states. Joyce was Acting Director for Fisheries Resources in the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and she is a member of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization’s Senior Officials and of the Regional Working Groups on Co-management, Regional Plan of Action-Capacity, & Frame Surveys. Since 2015, Joyce has been the Commissioner for Aquaculture Management and Development and in 2019 became the chair/lead of the Lake Edward-Albert Advisory Group.  

 

Joyce has a distinguished career spanning over 30 years in fisheries management and research on Uganda’s aquatic ecosystems, including on Lakes Victoria, Edward, Albert, and other inland lakes and rivers. She has authored and co-authored publications on fisheries management, the Nile perch fishery, and other monitoring and management functions. Joyce has been instrumental in the investigation and development of co-management institutions on Lake Victoria to help the world’s second largest lake manage its critical fisheries.   

 

Joyce earned a M.SC in Fisheries Policy and Planning from the University of Hull, UK; held a fellowship from the United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme in Iceland, and rounded out her expertise through various post-graduate short courses.  Her valuable knowledge and skills help develop fisheries research and management on the African Great Lakes and will assist ACARE in informing its core programmes. For decades, Joyce has provided mentorship to young African women in the fields of fisheries and aquaculture leading to improved livelihoods and gender equity, which is highly prioritized at ACARE.