Small-scale fisheries in the context of traditional post-harvest practice and the quest for food and nutritional security in Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundExisting scholarly works have paid little or no attention to the problems small-scale fisheries encounter within the context of food and nutritional security. Therefore, this work has examined the problem. Small-scale fisheries (SSF) are the dominant source of local fish production in Nigeria and, like many fisheries worldwide, receive inadequate attention for their significance within the context of food and nutritional security. A central theme to guaranteeing small-scale fisheries’ contribution to sustainable food and nutritional security in Nigeria is addressing post-harvest losses (PHL). Considerable fish loss occurs between production and consumption. A narrative review was conducted to expose PHL practiced by SSF and discuss factors that prevent the adoption of locally available interventions.FindingOur study revealed that sun-drying and smoking are the major interventions practiced to mitigate PHL. Unfortunately, these methods of reducing PHL are constrained by gross under-capacity and improper handling during peak fishing periods and issues related to product safety. There are a handful of potential intervention mechanisms to address issues of PHL. Many of these PHL-reducing interventions have been designed bearing in mind local contexts and situations. However, general inertia and poor policy implementation currently hamper progress for reducing PHL.ConclusionA plethora of strategies are proposed to reduce PHL from SSF as contained in national and regional documents such as the National Policy on Food and Nutrition (NPFN), National Policy on Food and Nutrition in Nigeria (NPFNN), National Energy Policy (NEP), and Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Recommendations are offered on identified gaps in areas of technological adoption, safety, and product quality issues, which are detrimental to traditional fish processing systems.