Assessing the Contribution of Aquaculture to Food Security: A Survey of Methologies

Poverty, hunger and malnutrition affect millions of people across the globe; of these, 25 percent live in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenge is to find suitable and  sustainable technologies which ensure them physical, social and economic access to  sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times: a situation referred to as food security.  Many scholars, researchers, development agencies and policy-makers argue that  aquaculture, the farming of marine organisms including fish, contributes to food security in many parts of the world including sub-Saharan Africa. A range of  methodologies exist which assess the prevalence and extent of food insecurity. However, little is known about the extent to which aquaculture contributes to alleviating poverty and hunger. 

This study surveys different methods which could be used to determine the contribution of aquaculture to improving food security. It focuses on four main essential components of food security, namely: stability of food supply, increased availability of food, improved access to supplies and more effective food utilization. Findings indicate that physical, dietary and economic indicators are widely used to achieve this goal. However, because of the complexity and extent of global food insecurity, it is unlikely that, of the methodologies surveyed, a single one can ever accurately quantify the contribution of a given technology, such as aquaculture, to food security. Further research is needed to address this issue. Perhaps a combination of indicators currently used into a methodology could be a starting point.