Feeding 9 billion by 2050 – Putting fish back on the menu
By Christophe Béné, M. Barangé, R. Subasinghe, P. Pinstrup‐Andersen, G. Merino, G. Hemre, Meryl J. Williams. Food Security, 2015
829 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Fish provides more than 4.5 billion people with at least 15 % of their average per capita intake of animal protein. Fish’s unique nutritional properties make it also essential to the health of billions of consumers in both developed and developing countries. Fish is one of the most efficient converters of feed into high quality food and its carbon footprint is lower compared to other animal production systems. Through fish-related activities (fisheries and aquaculture but also processing and trading), fish contribute substantially to the income and therefore to the indirect food security of more than 10 % of the world population, essentially in developing and emergent countries. Yet, limited attention has been given so far to fish as a key element in food security and nutrition strategies at national level and in wider development discussions and interventions. As a result, the tremendous potential for improving food security and nutrition embodied in the strengthening of the fishery and aquaculture sectors is missed. The purpose of this paper is to make a case for a closer integration of fish into the overall debate and future policy about food security and nutrition. For this, we review the evidence from the contemporary and emerging debates and controversies around fisheries and aquaculture and we discuss them in the light of the issues debated in the wider agriculture/farming literature. The overarching question that underlies this paper is: how and to what extent will fish be able to contribute to feeding 9 billion people in 2050 and beyond?
Subfields: Aquatic Science, Global and Planetary Change
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a854b63ee00cd8d87584918f0a8090426f2dbeff
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Citations in the corpus
- Feed conversion efficiency in aquaculture: do we measure it correctly? (2018, background): “Expanding aquaculture is thus widely viewed as an opportunity to meet rising demand foranimalproductsusing less feed, especially compared to pigs and cattle [19, 20].”
- The Contribution of Fish to Food and Nutrition Security in Eastern Africa: Emerging Trends and Future Outlooks (2019, background): “Fish is the most accessible and affordable source of animal protein, providing many of the key nutrients and calories that are needed for physical and mental development [54].”
- Securing a Just Space for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Blue Economy (2019, background): “Growing populations and greater prosperity escalate demands for fish globally (Béné et al., 2015).”
- Collateral diseases: Aquaculture impacts on wildlife infections (2020, background): “Meeting the global demand for fish and other aquatic food products and ensuring human food security are there - fore becoming increasingly challenging (Béné et al., 2015; Jennings et al., 2016).”
- The decline of mussel aquaculture in the European Union: causes, economic impacts and opportunities (2020, background): “In a global context of increasing population and increasing demand of food and protein (Godfray et al. 2010; Bene et al. 2015; Guillen et al. 2019b), we can expect an increase in the demand for mussels.”
- Most fish destined for fishmeal production are food-grade fish (2017, background): “…2014, FAO, 2014; Golden et al., 2016b), the current and potentially increasing use for non- DHC may represent a challenge to global food security (Béné et al., 2016; Naylor et al., 2000), especially with regards to animal protein and micronutrients (Béné et al., 2015; Golden et al., 2016b).”