“Akili zetu ziwe moja / Let our minds be one”: Emergent strategy for adapting to seafood insecurity in coastal Kenyan fishing communities

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries provide food sovereignty and capital for millions globally. However, coastal Kenyan communities who harvest reef fishery resources are often still food insecure, especially due to the detrimental effects of climate change and overfishing in their communities. This study aims to understand the environmental perceptions and priorities of fishing families in Kilifi County, Kenya, and how these relate to both food security and sustainable development policy. We rely on qualitative methods including interviews with household caregivers from 42 fishing families to provide insights not only on fishery sustainability but also on the additional aspects of reproductive labor related to fish food security, including the food securing aspects of availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. Our findings highlight the complex challenges that environmental change places on families in this situation: lack of fish availability, seasonal food inaccessibility, shifting baselines, and experiences of loss in the food system are markedly a prevalent result. Despite these struggles, we see emergent strategies to address food needs unfold in a variety of resilient and opportunistic ways, including adaptation, trust, and multimodal networks of support. Further policy support must be given to communities to practice food sovereignty in their own contexts, especially as climate changes continue and these strategies become salient adaptive practices elsewhere.