Identifying Policy Best-Practices to Support the Contribution of Aquatic Foods to Food and Nutrition Security.

Anna K Farmery,Amy White,Edward H Allison

doi:10.3390/foods10071589

Abstract

The relationship between aquatic foods and food nutrition and security is increasingly recognised in policy and practice, yet many governance instruments do not acknowledge or support this important connection. The most effective policy approaches to support the link between these sectors, or ‘best practices’ are currently unknown. We reviewed relevant governance instruments from multiple countries to identify how these instruments linked fisheries, aquaculture and food security and nutrition, including the policy framing and evidence of political commitment. Of the documents connecting the sectors (65%), the majority did so in the context of developing the fisheries/aquaculture sector to increase aquatic food availability and/or access (51%), followed by developing the fisheries/aquaculture sector as a livelihoods approach to indirectly improve food security (33%), for example, through income generation. Sectoral links established in the context of nutrition-sensitive approaches to fisheries and aquaculture were less common (5%). Almost one third (29%) of instruments supported the connection between aquatic foods and food security and nutrition across three or more different contexts relevant to food security or food systems, while 12% indicated a very high level of commitment. We recommend some key attributes for future policy development to help build coherence between sectors and to help frame coherent food system-based policies.

Highlights

A growing body of research highlights the important contribution of aquatic foods to food and nutrition security (FNS) and to sustaining healthy diets [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We examine public governance instruments related to fisheries, aquaculture and FNS, to understand current approaches relating to the support of the connection between aquatic foods and FNS, and to develop recommendations for future policy development
While it is difficult to assess best practice from existing governance instruments, as this would require evidence of policy implementation and an evaluation of impact, which is beyond the scope of this study, it is possible, as this paper demonstrates, to identify policies that are well framed and which, offer useful guidance to the integration of FNS concerns with fisheries and aquaculture governance

Summary

Introduction

A growing body of research highlights the important contribution of aquatic foods to food and nutrition security (FNS) and to sustaining healthy diets [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Aquatic foods—plants and animals produced through aquaculture and wild-capture fisheries—help to overcome hunger and malnutrition by providing bioavailable micronutrients and protein, as well as income for fishers, processors, traders and sellers to purchase food [9]. The production of food, including aquatic foods from fishing and aquaculture, can result in environmental impacts, such as ecosystem degradation [10] and greenhouse gas emissions [11,12]. Aquatic foods have substantial potential to improve global diets, as a highly nutritious source of food that can have a lower environmental footprint than other animal-sourced proteins [13,14]. Aquatic foods contribute variously to the four pillars of food security—

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