Inland fisheries critical for the diet quality of young children in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The world will not reach Sustainable Development Goal 2 ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 unless we address micronutrient deficiencies, particularly amongst infants and children in developing countries. Fish are nutrient-rich and are valued to improve diet quality. We examined the diets of 6328 children in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Most children had inadequate diet diversity. Of those that did have higher diet diversity, 20% relied on eating fish from nearby inland fisheries as their only flesh food. Results suggest that food systems failed to provide fish or other flesh foods to 65% of rural children. To improve diet quality of children living more than 5 km from inland fisheries, strategies are needed to extend the reach of fish value chains and improve access to fish.