Across the Western Indian Ocean, many vulnerable social groups largely depend on marine resources for their food security and livelihoods. The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) and the IOC Sub-Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States (IOCAFRICA) support the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in this region. This report provides an overview of three pilot cases of baseline data collection to better understand local communities’ dependence on marine resources and other livelihood activities, with emphasis on understanding the role of marine spatial zonation and resource management on poverty and gender equality. Pilot studies were conducted in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar. In Kenya, the study focused on Kwale county which is the southernmost coastal county bordering the Tanzanian study area in the south. In Tanzania, the study area was the Mkinga District within Tanga Region, which is in the northeast of Tanzania. In Madagascar, the study areas comprised three coastal bays in the north western regions of Boeny and Sofia, namely Bombetoka, Mahajamba and Sahamalaza Bays. Coastal households in Kenya depended on a number of economic activities including formal employment, fishing and fisheries related activities, crop and animal farming, and trade. Some communities indicated that the resources were dwindling due to extensive harvests, while others indicated that there were fluctuations on the availability of the resources overtime. Across Kwale county, gender differences in livelihood activities were prevalent. These differences were mainly attributed to culture and traditions, risk aversion, and lack of capital to start business enterprises. In Tanzania, earning income from employment was common and shared equally between men and women across the coastal wards in the Tanga region. Most employment opportunities were within the fishing and fish processing sector. Offshore fishing (in areas best reached using a motor or sail) was more common than fishing from or close to the shore and fishers mainly caught small pelagic fish – on average about 64% of catches were small pelagics. Fishing, both offshore and inshore, was a very male dominated activity – only few households had female household members going out to sea. Inshore fishing was less common among households and also a very male dominated activity.Households in the Sofia and Boeny regions in the north / north-west of Madagascar had been experiencing the impacts of dwindling fish stocks and were worried that fish stocks will completely disappear in a few years if no actions are taken. Overall, households therefore saw the need for improved MSP in the area. However, fishing was by far households’ main income source – both for livelihood activities and for the few households that had some type of paid employment. In Mahajamba and Bombetoka close to 80% of households engaged in offshore fishing. Restrict-ing access to fishing grounds would likely have very large impacts on households’ monthly incomes as their incomes were rather undiversified. Overall, Madagascar ranked lowest in terms of opportunity and choice, power and voice, and domestic harmony and security while households seemed to be relatively better off in terms of income and resources compared to Kenya and Tanzania. Purely using income and access to resources relative to national poverty levels would have given different overall poverty level results for Madagascar.