Linking seagrass ecosystem services to food security: The example of southwestern Madagascar’s small-scale fisheries

Sieglind Wallner-Hahn,Malin Dahlgren,Maricela De La Torre-Castro

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101381

Sieglind Wallner-Hahn, Malin Dahlgren + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101381

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Journal: Ecosystem Services	Publication Date: Nov 25, 2021
Citations: 9	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Stockholm University, Uppsala University

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries(SSF) are crucialfor food security and poverty alleviation. Many SSF are however under pressure, and in need of better management paying special attention to the key seascape ecosystems which are supporting them. This study investigates the importance of seagrass beds for SSF households and their food security in southwestern Madagascar. The specific aims of this study were to: i) analyze if and how seagrass-associated fish contributes to subsistence and/or the economy of local fishing households, ii) identify and compare seagrass ecosystem goods and services valued by local fishers in a rural and an urban setting, and iii) analyze links between local people and seagrasses in terms of local ecological knowledge, use and traditions. The results showed that seagrasses were the most important fishing habitats for most fishers. Seagrass-associated fish species were both the economically most important and most commonly fished species, and are a major source of protein in the region. Further, seagrass-derived sea urchins are important complements to local people’s diets. Thefindings illustrate that seagrasses contribute both through subsistence and income generation to food security and wellbeing of coastal people in southwestern Madagascar. This highlights the need to consider seagrass ecosystems in management towards sustainable SSFand their ability to sustain food security for future generations.

Highlights

In the light of a growing world population, food security is of major societal and global concern
The three specific aims of this study were to: i) analyze if and how seagrassassociated fish contributes to subsistence and/or economy of local fishing households, ii) identify and compare seagrass ecosystem goods and services valued by local fishers in a rural and an urban setting, and iii) analyze links between local people and seagrasses in terms of local ecological knowledge, use and traditions
Women were mainly occupied with fish processing, fish trade or invertebrate harvesting and were generally not involved in the catch activities of finfish, as documented from other SSF in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO)

Summary

Introduction

In the light of a growing world population, food security is of major societal and global concern. Major challenges are to meet the rapidly increasing demand for food in environmentally and socially sustainable ways, and, most importantly, to battle hunger amongst the world’s economically poorest people (Conijn et al, 2018; Gerten et al, 2020; Godfray et al, 2010). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 220 million, one fourth of the population, are facing hunger and the number of undernourished people is growing faster than in any other region of the world (FAO et al, 2020; FAO et al, 2015). In the World Food Summit (1996) it was agreed upon the definition that food security exists when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life” (FAO, 1996). For the poorest and most marginalized, the subsistence component of fishing is

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