CGIAR research program on livestock and fish
Category:UpdatesMilk, meat, eggs and fish are key components of a balanced and nutritious diet. In developing countries with inland or coastal waters, fish is the dominant source of animal protein and supplies critical micronutrients. This high quality nutrition is especially important for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Driven by rising population, increasing wealth and urbanization, especially in the developing countries of Asia, there has been an explosive growth in demand for these animal source foods.
With our wild capture fisheries either fully exploited or over exploited, any further increases in fish production will require continued growth from aquaculture. This is especially true for Africa which only supplies 2% of global aquaculture production.
Focus
Under this program, WorldFish will work with partner organizations, governments and the private sector to achieve large scale, environmentally sustainable increases in the supply of affordable fish for poor consumers in developing countries.
The program features four themes:
- Technological research, e.g., for improved strains of fish, nutritionally sound and environmentally sustainable feeds.
- Value chain development, e.g., breaking down market and institutional barriers; value chains include suppliers, farm production, transport, processing and marketing.
- Ensuring gender issues and equity are mainstreamed into the program.
- Measuring the impact on beneficiaries.
Location
Research will be focused on Egypt and Uganda, two countries with important fish consumption but significant undernourishment, and an aquaculture sector that has the potential for effective intervention.
Impact
The program aims to deliver annual production growth rates of over 10% in priority countries, leading to gender equitable increases in per capita consumption of over 20% for 20 million poor consumers by 2018.