The COVID-19 pandemic is a shock affecting all areas of the global food system. We tracked the impacts of COVID-19 and associated policy responses on the availability and price of aquatic foods and production inputs during 2020, using a high frequency longitudinal survey of 768 respondents in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Myanmar, Nigeria. We found the following: (1) Aquatic food value chains were severely disrupted but most effects on the availability and accessibility of aquatic foods and production inputs were short-lived. (2) Impacts on demand for aquatic foods, production inputs, and labor have been longer lasting than impacts on their supply. (3) Retail prices of aquatic foods spiked briefly during March-May 2020 but trended down thereafter, whereas prices of production inputs rose. These trends suggest a deepening ‘squeeze’ on the financial viability of producers and other value chain actors. (4) Survey respondents adapted to the challenges of COVID-19 by reducing production costs, sourcing alternative inputs, diversifying business activities, leveraging social capital, borrowing, seeking alternative employment, and reducing food consumption. Many of these coping strategies are likely to undermine well-being and longer-term resilience, but we also find some evidence of proactive strategies with potential to strengthen business performance. Global production of aquatic food likely contracted significantly in 2020. The importance of aquatic food value chains in supporting livelihoods and food and nutrition security in Asia and Africa makes their revitalization essential in the context of COVID-19 recovery efforts. We outline immediate and longer-term policies and interventions to support this goal.

This study tested the efficacy of a pond polyculture intervention with farming households in northern Zambia. Longitudinal data on fish consumption and the associated nutrient intake of households (N = 57) were collected over a six-month period (September 2019–March 2020). One group of people tested the intervention while another group that practiced monoculture tilapia farming, and a third group that did not practice aquaculture, acted as control groups. A similar quantity of fish was consumed on average; however, the associated nutrient intake differed, based on the quantity and type of species consumed, particularly for those who had access to pelagic small fish from capture fisheries. There was a decrease in fish consumption from December onward due to fisheries management restrictions. The ponds provided access to micronutrient-rich fish during this time. Pond polyculture can act as a complementary source of fish to capture fisheries that are subjected to seasonal controls, as well as to households that farm tilapia. Assessments of how aquatic foods can improve food and nutrition security often separate aquaculture and capture fisheries, failing to account for people who consume fish from diverse sources simultaneously. A nutrition-sensitive approach thus places food and nutrition security, and consumers, at the center of the analysis.

Objectives: Poor complementary feeding practices have consistently contributed to the burden of child undernutrition in Indonesia. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and predictors of the time of the introduction of solid, semi-solid, and soft foods (ISSSF), minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF), and minimum acceptable diet (MAD).Methods: We analyzed 4804 last-born infants aged 6-23 months from the 2017 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey, which employed multistage cluster random sampling. The outcomes were calculated based on the 2021 World Health Organization/United Nations Children’s Fund guidelines. The predictors of the 4 complementary feeding indicators were assessed using multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance adjusting for potential confounders and study design.Results: The prevalence of ISSSF, MDD, MMF, and MAD was 86.1%, 54.3%, 71.8%, and 37.6%, respectively, with younger children less likely to meet 3 out of the 4 outcomes. Parental education, the presence of a birth attendant, and maternal media consumption were among the predictors of MDD and MAD. Children from families with higher income were more likely to meet MDD than those from low-income households (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 1.28). Living in an urban area was positively associated with MMF (aPR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.15) and MAD (aPR, 1.12; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.24). In eastern regions, the prevalence of children achieving MDD and MAD was lower than in those living in Java and Bali.Conclusions: It is crucial that more attention and efforts are made to improve the recommended practices throughout Indonesia, since the prevalence of adequate complementary feeding practices remains low.

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