Flavouring fish into food security
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This study makes a preliminary assessment of fisheries and aquaculture incorporation into the food and nutrition policy frameworks of twenty countries in the East and South Africa and Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) region. In a world where we are confronted with the paradox of hunger, food resources such as fish, which are readily available in the ESA-IO countries, can become an important part of the solution to food and nutritional insecurity that plagues the sub-Saharan countries as a whole and the ESA -IO region in particular. The vast aquatic resources – in the sea, rivers, lakes and man-made water bodies - of the region provide the basis for supporting vibrant small-scale fishery activities. Development inputs dedicated to these activities can, in turn, increase the purchasing power of fishers and fish workers and also make fish available at reasonable prices to needy rural consumers. Policy making for food security presupposes that the formulators have a good understanding of all the food sectors of the economy and the inter-relations that exist between them. In this study, we first assessed the extent to which fish and fisheries have been integrated into food security related, as well as economic and social development, policy documents. This assessment was followed-up by using fishery related indicators to consider the extent to which fish and fisheries are integrated into the diets and economies of the 20 ESA-IO countries. The extent of congruence or mismatch between integrati on by word (incorporation into policy) and integration by deed (the reality of food and the economy) was examined. Fishery officers, who are the key link between high level policy makers and people in the fisheries sector, play a crucial role in translating policy into action. Consequently, their understanding of the various factors that have a bearing on the role of fish and fisheries in food and nutritional security is paramount. An assessment of the knowledge of these officers and their creat ive suggestions on what is to be done to improve integration was carried out and highlighted their potential as policy makers. There is not an iota of doubt that enhancing the integration of fish into the diets and fisheries into the economic activities of countries will raise the well-being of all. Using a menu of indicators, we arrived at a gradated list of countries with different levels of potential for enhancing integration. It should be noted that by using this approach, we run the risk of betting on the strong and neglecting the weak. This prompted us to embark on an exercise to identify countries where there is a real need and, within this category, where it would be possible to raise a real awareness among the population about this need. The resulting list of countries includes: Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These countries straddle the spectrum of nations with high, medium and low potentials for enhancing the integration of fish and fisheries into thei r food intake and economic activities.