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NORGLOBAL2-Norge - Global partner

GRC pilot: Small fish for food and nutrition security in Africa

Alternative title: GRC pilot: Små fisk for mat- og ernæringssikkerhet i Afrika

Awarded: NOK 4.0 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

352103

Project Period:

2024 - 2027

Funding received from:

Location:

Achieving the SDGs requires technical, institutional, and socio-cultural transitions. The SmallFish4Food project address SDG2 (achieve food security and sustainable agriculture), SDG3 (reduce maternal and infant mortality), and SDG14 (promoting sustainable use of marine resources). However, Fish are invisible in strategies to achieve SDG2 and 3, and nutrition and food security are not the focus in SDG14. Our terrestrial and aquatic environments produce equal amounts of organic matter, but we only harvest 3% of our food from the latter. Fisheries are an important economic activity in Africa and support 200 million through food and income. Many African farmers are part-time fishers. Fish are by far our biggest source of harvestable protein and the unique nutrient content of fish plays a significant role in combating the triple burden of hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases. Still, the qualities of fish are not recognized in the global food security discourse, and fish is strikingly missing from strategies for nutrient deficiency reduction. Small fish are more abundant and productive than large but viewed as a low-value commodity that is often reduced to fishmeal used in animal feed. SmallFish4Food seek to alleviate these gaps in food systems by building on results of the LEAP-Agri SmallFishFood project, and engaging stakeholders to “transform socio-cultural, economic and institutional barriers in the fish value chain, as well as technical innovations, to improve sustainable utilisation of small fish for Africa’s low-income population.” This project is funded through the international call SDG Pilot Call, a collaboration between 11 funding agencies from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin-America. The aim of the call is to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, through the implementation of results from ongoing or recently finalised research and innovation projects to advance knowledge-based achievement of the SDGs, from local to regional scale

The SmallFish4Food consortium is a multidisciplinary research team from Norway, the Netherlands, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, covering the fields of fish stock assessment, processing, marketing, nutrition, and governance. We will enhance the food security discourse by focusing on the nutritional value of small indigenous fish species. We aim for transformation to ecological sustainability and food security by investigating how socio-cultural, economic, technical, and institutional transformations of the fish value chain can improve the utilisation of small fish resources for Africa’s low-income population. The fact that the nutrients in fish can play a significant role in combating the triple burden of hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases is the baseline of the project. However, the unique qualities of fish are seldom recognized in the global food security discourse and are missing from nutrient deficiency strategies among disadvantaged groups. Small fish are ubiquitous in all aquatic environments from large marine ecosystems to seasonal ponds, as well as in marketplaces and low-income household diets, but their significance is underrated and little understood as they are consumed locally and often go unrecorded in catch statistics. Catching small fish, which are sun-dried and consumed whole, is the most high-yielding, eco-friendly, low CO2-emission animal food production system available. However, a range of social, technical, economic, and legal barriers inhibits the full potential of utilizing small fish. This project is funded through the international call SDG Pilot Call, a collaboration between 11 funding agencies from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin-America. The aim of the call is to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, through the implementation of results from ongoing or recently finalised research and innovation projects to advance knowledge-based achievement of the SDGs, from local to regional scale.

Funding scheme:

NORGLOBAL2-Norge - Global partner