The Contribution of Fish to Food and Nutrition Security in Eastern Africa: Emerging Trends and Future Outlooks

Abstract

Approximately 200 million people in Africa derive high-quality and low-cost proteins from fish. However, the consumption of fish is not fully exploited to combat the "triple burden" of malnutrition-obesity, undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies which are the leading causes of poor health in the region. There is still limited knowledge on quantitative information to guide policy makers in developing evidence-based actions that can improve the availability of and access to nutritious food for healthy and sustained diets among children and care givers. In this paper, we review the available literature with the aim of assessing and quantifying the extent to which fish contributes towards fighting food and nutrition insecurity in the Eastern Africa subregion. Key results reveal the region is characterized by fish supply deficits, and hence, low levels of fish consumed per person. Nonetheless, the increase in fish imports, and the growing supply of fish from aquaculture are likely to improve the per-capita fish intake. Fish trade is generally bidirectional, with exports exceeding imports in value terms, while significant challenges still hinder domestic and intra-regional fish trade. The Eastern Africa region is projected to realize increased fish consumption from 4.80 kg in 2013 to 5.49 kg by 2022. Rising population growth and income levels imply that the region will need 2.49 million tonnes of fish to fill the demand-supply gaps. We recommend that food security and nutritional programmes should recognize the potential of fish in providing essential micronutrients from the aspects of improved dietary quality, nutritional status, and general wellbeing of the region's fast growing population.

Fish Consumption Behaviour and Perception of Food Security of Low-Income Households in Urban Areas of Ghana

“…Seasonality factors include the season of marine fish catch (major, minor, and lean seasons). Drawing from Obiero et al [16], the paper further notes that the perception of food security may influence the fish consumption behaviour of households. The perception of fish food security is operationalized by using the four food security dimensions: availability ("I get fish to buy when I need it"), accessibility ("I believe the fish prices are generally affordable"), utilization/quality ("Good quality fish is available for me to purchase"), and stability ("I get the type(s) of fish I want all throughout the year").…”

“…The nature of the food supply chain is one important determinant of food and nutrition security, as are a number of other concerned drivers (related to the environment, technology and infrastructure, politics and economics, socio-cultural features, and demographic trends), see [14]. Obiero et al [16] note that food and nutrition security is influenced by consumer behaviour: the choices consumers make regarding what food to purchase, prepare, cook, store, and eat. These choices follow from the specific characteristics of households, and crystallize into a certain number of consumption patterns.…”

Predicting uptake of aquaculture technologies among smallholder fish farmers in Kenya

“…Although Africa has the fastest growing aquaculture industry with high biophysical potential, the sector has not yet significantly contributed to sustainable food supplies and economic development (Brummett et al 2008;Waite et al 2014). Aquaculture accounted for 17% of total fish production in Africa, while contributing a paltry 2.5% to global production (Chan et al, 2019;FAO 2017FAO , 2018Obiero et al 2019a). Like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, aquaculture development in East Africa is constrained by lack of goodquality seed and feed, low technical capacity, poor market and value addition, inadequate extension services and materials, poor management of culture systems, low capacity in disease diagnostics and biosecurity, and increasing competition from cheaper imported fish products (Mwima et al 2012;Rothuis et al 2014;Kaminski et al 2017).…”

Aqua-Feed Wastes: Impact on Natural Systems and Practical Mitigations—A Review

“…Aquaculture remains a lucrative endeavour, as the world seeks to feed itself (FAO, 2014). The sector plays a significant role in contributing to food and nutritional needs of a ballooning world population, which in turn fosters food security and economic growth through value-chain linkages (Ogello & Munguti, 2016;Obiero et al, 2019). Yet, aquaculture presents a range of environmental challenges, which vary by production system and can result in serious ecological footprint especially for intensive systems (Alleway et al, 2019).…”