In Malawi, small-scale inland fisheries are the main source of fish and other aquatic foods. They contribute more than 90% of national fish supplies, provide nutrition for over 11.9 million people and employment for over 200,000 women and men. Fish and other aquatic foods are the most consumed animal source food (a critical food group), particularly among rural populations and households that are close to waterbodies. Although aquaculture is expanding in Malawi, it currently supports just 6% of fish supply, and projections suggest capture fisheries will remain the most important source of fish in Malawi for decades to come.
This paper presents the latest understanding and data on values and challenges that exist within Malawi’s small-scale capture fisheries, and distill the opportunities to sustain and
improve multiple development outcomes with small-scale fisheries as an entry point. Fish provide a rich source of micronutrients, fatty acids and quality protein. Small fish species commonly
consumed whole and dried in Malawi, such as usipa (Engraulicypris sardella) and matemba (Enteromius paludinosus), are particularly rich in calcium, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. A 100 g portion of small fish caught by small-scale fisheries provides, on average, 38% of the recommended daily intake for calcium and 51% for zinc among adult women. The diversity of nutrients in small fish make them a nutritional standout among animal-source foods. Dried small fish are instrumental in broadcasting the nutrition benefits of small-scale fisheries along informal supply chains to households and communities distant from the water bodies where fisheries operate.
Safeguarding the supply and accessibility of fish from small-scale fisheries is critical to support diet quality, particularly among women, infants and children, who can be otherwise vulnerable to undernutrition. While there are natural (though variable) production limits to capture fisheries, improved livelihood and well-being contributions from capture fisheries can be achieved if investments are made into managing resources, reducing waste and loss, and improving access to fish-based products and their distribution through informal networks, formal markets and/or emergency food programs.
Small-scale fisheries receive little policy, investment and management attention relative to the opportunities that exist to sustain and improve the contributions they make to many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication outlines principles and approaches that can improve social, economic and environmental outcomes from working with, and through, small-scale fisheries. By working with small-scale fisheries, there are multiple opportunities to avoid and reduce poverty (SDG 1) and reduce all forms of hunger, particularly micronutrient deficiencies (SDG 2). This will lead to improved health outcomes
(SDG 3), address gender inequities and improve gender equality (SDG 8), improve sustainable management and efficient use of natural (aquatic) resources and reduce post-harvest losses (SDG 12), and sustain life below water (SDG 14), including through protecting tenure, access and stewardship rights of fishers (SDG 14b). Conversely, the loss of the benefits small-scale fisheries provide would be devastating to Malawi and lead to failure and deterioration against multiple SDGs. Effective and equitable fisheries governance, value chain technology improvements, effective market links, building adaptive capacity to climate change, and integrating governance across water-agriculture-fisheries systems all represent opportunities to safeguard and enhance the diverse benefits that small-scale fisheries provide to Malawi.
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