Examining Policy Coherence for Advancing SDG 14.b Marine Access for small-scale fisheries in Kilifi and Kwale County, Kenya

Policy coherence is essential for the successful realization of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.b, which advocates for the recognition and support of small-scale fishers (SSF) and their access rights to marine resources and markets. However, despite growing attention to blue economy frameworks in national planning, there remains a critical need to mainstream the SDG 14.b into community-level implementation and policy instruments. This paper presents a structured policy review of 11; national (3), county (2), and co-management planning (6) documents from Kenya, including the Blue Economy Strategic Plan (2023–2027), County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) for Kwale and Kilifi, and Joint Co-Management Area (JCMA) plans. The review focuses on two dimensions: Goal Interaction, adapted from the UN SDG Interactions Framework, and Vertical Coherence, guided by indicators derived from the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (VGSSF). The findings show that the Blue Economy Strategic Plan and JCMA plans demonstrated the strongest alignment with SSF priorities. While all documents referenced small-scale fishers, none made explicit mention of SDG 14.b, and county planning instruments fell short in integrating SDG indicators related to marine access and SSF governance. Coherence was notable in areas such as co-management, market access, and environmental sustainability, while they lacked tailored provisions for SSF in tenure rights, monitoring systems, and cross-sectoral impact assessment. This study offers recommendations to better integrate SDG 14 b across different policy instruments and governance opportunities for policy reform and research on SDG 14.b mainstreaming in fisheries and governance.