Small-‐scale aquaculture development and its contribution to food security in rural Ghana

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Small-‐scale aquaculture development and its

contribution to food security in rural Ghana

Master’s thesis Environmental Geography Graduate School of Social Sciences Author: Jaap Blom 10003273 Jaap.Blom92@gmail.com Supervisor: dr. Joeri Scholtens Second reader:

dr. ir. Yves van Leynseele

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Abstract

Fish is an important source for both income and food for many people in the developing world. With declining marine fish stocks and a growing global

population, aquaculture or fish farming has experienced a rapid growth in recent decades. In many parts of the developing world, especially in Asia, aquaculture development has been successful in bridging the gap between fish supply and growing demand where capture fisheries remained stagnant. The success of aquaculture development in many Asian countries is attributed to the enactment of effective policy making and support by central governments to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor and to become food self-‐sufficient. In sub-‐Saharan Africa, however, aquaculture development has yet to make a significant

contribution to food security and livelihood strategies. Despite its huge potential, rural fish farmers are facing many constraints and vulnerabilities that withhold them from sustaining their livelihoods with fish farming over time. This thesis draws on an 8-‐week research on small-‐scale aquaculture development in the Ashanti region in Ghana. By scaling down to a local-‐specific context of small-‐scale aquaculture in sub-‐Saharan Africa, this thesis provides a strong claim that

engaging in aquaculture in Ghana does not support a sustainable means of living, nor does it make a significant contribution to national food security. Findings suggest that aquaculture production from pond farming is in decline due to various reasons. Moreover, production from large commercial fish farms in Lake Volta has dwarfed out small-‐scale pond aquaculture, resulting in prioritisation of large-‐scale fish farms in policy making for aquaculture development.

Key words: Small-‐scale aquaculture – Sustainable livelihoods – Food security -‐ Ghana

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Foreword

This thesis draws on an 8-‐week fieldwork study in Ghana from April 6th_{,
until} June 3rd_{2017.
This
thesis
is
part
of
the
requirements
for
the
fulfilment
of
the} Master’s degree in Environmental Geography at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

This study contributes to the Fish4Food project, a joint inter-‐regional innovation project that aims to understand the contribution of fish for food security in city regions in the global south. In collaboration with the University of Ghana in Accra and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi,

students of the University of Amsterdam were given the opportunity to conduct their Master’s thesis research within this program.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Joeri Scholtens, for his supervision and guidance through the process of my thesis project. His positive feedback, patience and understanding is something I am very grateful for and kept me going even though my motivation for finalising my thesis was difficult to grasp sometimes.

Much love goes out to all of my friends for their mental support, reassurance and positivity in times when the chips were down and my spirit broke.

I would also like to thank Dr. Edward Ebo Onumah from the University of Ghana, for his local supervision and for helping me getting me in the right direction in Ghana.

Special thanks goes out to my friends in Kumasi, Sika, Agyapong, Kwaku Owusu, Aboraa and Nana Kwame for making me feel at home during my stay at their family’s place for 3 weeks. I will always cherish the great conversations and laughs we have had over a Guinness or a Club beer at the local spot and all the other times we hung out, played football or went to the swimming pool. I hope our paths will cross again one day.

I couldn’t possibly mention and thank all the other wonderful people I have met in Ghana. The admiration I have for their positive walk of life, while being in endless struggle and despair is beyond my realisation.

With great pride, I can finally say that I have finished my Master’s thesis, which has been one of the greatest accomplishments in my life so far.

Jaap Blom Amsterdam, august 21st_{,
2017}

Front cover photo: An Ashanti fisherman feeding his fish (Source: Jaap Blom, 2017)

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List of Abbreviaties

ARDEC: Aquaculture Research and Development Centre CSRI: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DFID: British Department for International Development EEZ: Exclusive Economic Zone

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations FFA: Fish Farmers Association

FSN: Food Security and Nutrition GHC: Ghanaian Cedi

GNADP: Ghana National Aquaculture Development Plan GoG: Government of Ghana

LIFDC: Low-‐Income Food-‐Deficit Countries

MoFAD: Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development SDG: Sustainable Development Goal

SLF: Sustainable Livelihood Framework SSA: sub-‐Saharan Africa

UNCLOS: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea WFC: World Food Conference

WFS: World Food Summit WRI: Water Research Institute 1 GHC = 0,20 Euro 1 Euro = 5,19 GHC

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List of Figures and tables

Box 1: Meeting of the Ashanti fish farmers association 39

Figure 1: The Sustainable Livelihood Framework 13 Figure 2: Conceptual framework 21 Figure 3: Map of Ghana 23 Figure 4: Research area 24 Figure 5: Fish value chain in Ghana 30 Figure 6: Differences in attitude towards social inclusion between FFA

members and non-‐FFA members 40 Figure 7: Count of different types of crises that have been experienced 41

Picture 1: The Aquaculture Research and Development Centre

in Akosombo 43

Table 1: Global fisheries and aquaculture production and utilisation

between 2009 and 2015 16 Table 2: Top 5 producers of farmed aquatic animals in 2014 17 Table 3: Ghana’s capture production between 2008 and 2012 in tonnes 29 Table 4: Socio-‐economic characteristics of the research sample 34 Table 5: Main training providers 35 Table 6: Average estimated farm input of a one-‐acre pond farm 37 Table 7: Average wholesale value of farmed fish 37 Table 8: Degree of accessibility of physical capital 38 Table 9: Degree of satisfaction towards government support 40

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1. Introduction

We live in a world where a large share of the human population suffers from chronic malnutrition and hunger. In sub-‐Saharan Africa alone, an estimated 217 million people are not able to meet their required daily food intake and go hungry every day (FAO, 2015). Although the overall prevalence of hunger and malnutrition in SSA has declined by 32% between 1990 and 2015, population growth has caused the total number of undernourished people to increase. With an estimated global population of around 9.2 billion people in 2050 (FAO, 2014), we are facing a huge challenge in feeding the world population.

In poor, rural areas, food production is mainly dominated by small-‐scale

production. Out of the 2.5 billion people in developing countries living directly of the food and agriculture sector, 1.5 billion people are engaged in small-‐scale food production, providing 80% of the food supply in many parts of Asia and sub-‐ Saharan Africa. However, food production by rural smallholders is limited in reaching full potential due to inadequate rural development. Therefore, if we are to safeguard the world’s food system, improving the small-‐scale sector should be one of the top priorities (FAO, 2015)

In the global food security and nutrition debate, limited attention is paid to the contribution fish has in eradicating hunger and malnutrition (Béné et al., 2015; HLPE, 2014). However, fish is an important source of animal protein, accounting for almost 20% of the per capita intake of animal protein of around 3 billion people and can even be as high as 60% in some West African and Asian countries (HLPE, 2014). Moreover, aside from the direct contribution fish has on food security, fisheries provide the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, especially in the developing world (Kooiman et al., 2005). Increasing consumption of fish is expected as the world’s population grows, incomes continue to rise and urbanisation expands (Béné et al., 2015). Of the total 167 million tonnes of fish that was produced in 2014 globally, around 146 million tonnes were used for direct human consumption. The demand for fish is estimated to increase by an additional 40 million tonnes by 2030 if current average per capita consumption levels are to be maintained (FAO, 2016).

However, since the 1990’s, global capture fisheries production has been static to around 90 million tonnes. The extent to which capture fisheries have exceeded sustainable levels has framed out the issue of overexploitation of the world’s fish stock and the limits to fish production from wild fish. Capture fisheries,

therefore, are dependent on recovery and sustainable management of the fish stocks in order to contribute to FSN strategies in the future.

In 2014, a milestone was reached when fish production from aquaculture overtook that of capture fisheries. Aquaculture has experienced an impressive growth since the 1970’s, with China taking the lead as over 60% of fish from aquaculture is harvested on Chinese soil, mainly in small-‐scale fish ponds inland (FAO, 2016). Nevertheless, the development of aquaculture to other regions in the developing world has yet to be realised at a significant scale.

In sub-‐Saharan Africa, aquaculture production accounts for just 0.6% of global aquaculture production (Brummet et al., 2008). Despite many efforts in

promoting and developing aquaculture, the sector has faced many constraints and failures in the past. During colonial times in the 1940’s and 50’s, the

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However, after the independence of many African countries in the 1960’s, newly formed governments deprioritised the development of aquaculture as a source of food production and many recently built ponds were abandoned. In the following decades, aquaculture investments by donor agencies to target small-‐ scale development have experienced short-‐lived successes, but failed after a few years when external subsidies were withdrawn. As Brummet et al. (2008) argue, lack of technical advise and expertise, poor infrastructure, market access and weak policies all have contributed to the failure of aquaculture development in Africa. Although a GIS assessment conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation showed that 36% of sub-‐Saharan Africa is physically suitable for the establishment of small-‐scale artisanal aquaculture, due to favourable climatic conditions and other biophysical characteristics, aquaculture in Africa has not succeeded in making a significant contribution to FSN thus far (Brummet et al., 2008).

However, as global capture fisheries are in decline and population is in the rise, governments are putting more and more efforts in revitalising the fisheries sub-‐ sector by implementing national development plans and investments in human resources, skills and technology (Edwards, 2013). Hence, this thesis aims to identify the possibilities and constraints that the aquaculture sector is facing today by gathering empirical evidence from Ghana in Africa. In Ghana,

aquaculture production has seen an impressive growth in the last decade, but still remains an insignificant player in FSN strategies nationally due to the inadequacy of how the sector is controlled.

1.1 Problem statement

In this thesis, the relevance of aquaculture production to FSN strategies will be explored by looking into the local specific context of small-‐scale aquaculture development in Ghana, Africa.

The contribution of aquaculture to domestic fish production in Ghana remains of minor significance, accounting for only 10% of its domestic production of

460.000 tonnes in 2016 (MoFAD, 2017). Being one of the highest per capita consumers of fish in Africa, Ghana is experiencing a shortfall of fish of almost 50% to meet its domestic fish demand of around 880.000 tonnes (Kassam, 2014). The fish deficit in Ghana is currently met through fish import, valued at over US$ 200 million annually. To become less dependent on foreign import, the government of Ghana aims to improve its aquaculture sector.

In 2016, 52.470 tonnes of aquatic animals, mainly Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and African catfish (Clarias gariepinus), were produced (MoFAD, 2017). 90% of Ghanaian aquaculture production is attributed to just 7 commercial large-‐scale cage farm enterprises, which is dominated by the production of high value tilapia. These large-‐scale aquaculture operators, accounting for just 2% of the total number of fish farms, are mainly producing in Lake Volta in Ghana’s Eastern and Volta region. In the central belt, in the Ashanti and Brong-‐Ahafo regions, the majority of the estimated 3000 small-‐scale, low performing fish farms are found (Kassam, 2014). Small-‐scale fish farmers in Ghana are often characterised by practising both agriculture and aquaculture in rural areas. The size of the small-‐scale sector, compared to the large-‐scale sector and their insignificance to the national food production, makes this research rather exploratory. Little is known about the actual impact of small-‐scale rural pond

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aquaculture on regional or national food security and subsequent livelihood sustainability of smallholders. In a report ‘The State of the Worlds Fisheries and Aquaculture’ by the FAO (2006), it is stated that many small-‐scale aquaculture holdings in the developing world are not well monitored and therefore

underrepresented in development policies. As Edwards (2013) argue, the challenges remain to explore the best approaches to identify the impacts of small-‐scale aquaculture to rural development. Therefore, an empirical study to identify the limitations of small-‐scale fish farmers’ ability to achieve increased, sustained production will help in understanding how rural aquaculture

development could contribute to domestic food self-‐sufficiency.

1.2 Research aim

The aim of this research is to assess the possible impacts of small-‐scale aquaculture development to food security in Ghana. Much research has been done on the potential of aquaculture to food security and poverty reduction. However, limited attention has been given to the potential small-‐scale aquaculture has in the broader context of sustainable rural development (Edwards, 2013; Townsley, 2013).

In this thesis, analysing the livelihoods of small-‐scale fish farmers will be used as an approach to identify rural development issues that relates to the extent to which regional food security is achieved in rural Ghana. The research draws on the widely adopted Sustainable Livelihood Framework that is used as a tool to monitor the capabilities and choices that individuals have to make a living and how these can be sustained over time. The guiding principle of this research will be that domestic food security can be achieved, partly, through the improvement of livelihoods that are engaged in food production in general, and aquaculture in particular.

Hence, this thesis aims to contribute to the global food security and nutritional debate by scaling down to a local-‐specific case of the actual and potential impact that small-‐scale aquaculture has on food security. Findings from this study may be beneficial for policy interventions not only in Ghana, but for other developing countries that seek to improve food security through increased fish production as well.

1.3 Thesis outline

The next chapter serves to review some of the existing literature on the concept of food security and how this has framed out the current debate on FSN

strategies. Moreover, the Sustainable Livelihood Approach, which will be the theoretical approach of this study, will be outlined. The third chapter will serve as a narrative on the importance of aquaculture to the global demand for fish for food and how aquaculture expansion has contributed to rural development in other parts of the developing world. The fourth chapter will describe the methodology on which this study is based on by first presenting the research questions and conceptual framework that will guide this thesis towards the main aim of this research. Also, the research location, design and units of analysis, the methods of enquiry and the limitations of this research will be discussed. In the fifth chapter, an overview of the fisheries sector in Ghana will be discussed. This chapter will serve as a contextual section of this thesis as it will provide basic

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information on the current state of fish production and consumption in Ghana and how aquaculture is implemented into national development policies.

Chapter six will describe the primary data that has been gathered in the field and will be analysed by applying the theoretical framework. This chapter will present most of the empirical findings of the quantitative segment of this study. In the seventh chapter, the main findings will be discussed and linked to the food security debate, followed by recommendations for improved policy and future challenges. Finally, chapter eight serves as a conclusion in which answers to the main research question and sub-‐questions will be addressed in detail.

2. Theoretical consideration

In this chapter, the narrative of global food security and nutritional strategies will be reviewed. Moreover, to put food security in perspective, a livelihood approach will be outlined that will help to understand the relation between food-‐ producing livelihoods and national food security which will form the framework for answering the main research question.

2.1 The concept of food security

In response to a global food crisis in the early 1970’s, due to bad harvests, famines, crop diseases and high food prices, international discussions on how to address the global demand for food and reduce hunger and malnutrition

emerged. Born out of fear that the global food system got out of hand, the World Food Conference was organised in 1974 under the auspice of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Its main target was to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition within a decade. Although this goal has not been accomplished and still hundreds of millions of people are

undernourished and hungry world wide to date, the majority of which live in the developing world, the conference did fuel further debates on global food security and nutritional (FSN) strategies (Maxwell, 1994).

Since the World Food Conference had pointed out the concept of food security, no clear universal definition has been implemented. The first definition by the WFC highlights the importance of the availability and supply of global food provisions. However, producing enough food to meet global demand does not assure access and sufficient calorie intake does not provide good nutrition and a healthy life (Pinstrup-‐Andersen, 2009).

An article by Simon Maxwell (1994) describes different paradigm shifts that have occurred in the last centuries, which have changed global discussion on how to assess the issue of food security. In the mid 1970’s, the first paradigm shift in the international FSN debate took place that considered individual access and entitlements to food as being the most important aspect of food security, rather than focussing on the global supply and availability of foodstuffs. This shift from global and national to the household and individual were reflected in policy initiatives that stressed out individual access and entitlements to food, while recognising the complex linkages between individual, household, national and global food availability.

In the following years, a second paradigm shift occurred in which the

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for food security. The livelihoods that poor people pursue are often prone to long lasting external trends and shocks that limit people’s ability to meet their daily needs, such as enough food or income. The extent to which people or households are able to recover from trends and shocks as a result of social, political or

environmental change is referred to as resiliency (Adger, 2000). Resiliency is created by internal structures in society that enables people to sustain their livelihoods over time. Within this context, food security is reached when internal structures, such as policies, governance and institutions enables food access and availability to sustain in the face of trends and shocks that threatens the level of food consumption (Townsley, 2013).

In 1996, in response to the failure of the 1974 WFC goal of eradicating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition within a decade, the World Food Summit took place. Its goal was to renew global commitment at the highest political level to reduce the number of hungry and undernourished people to half by no later than 2015 and ensuring sustainable food security in Low-‐Income Food-‐Deficit

Countries (LIFDCs). The most widely accepted definition of the concept of food security was adopted from the World Food Summit in 1996:

“Food security exists when all people, at all times have, physical and economic access to sufficient, save and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

This definition identifies four main pillars on which food security is build upon: access, availability, utilization and stability (FAO, 2006).

-‐ Access refers to the ability of households and individuals to afford and retrieve the preferred food. Hunger and malnutrition is often not the cause of food scarcity, but the inability of people to access food.

-‐ Availability refers to the supply of foodstuffs and relates to all aspects of the food supply chain, including production, distribution and exchange, supplied by domestic production or import.

-‐ Utilization relates to nutritional values of food, metabolism of food by individuals and the safety of food products.

-‐ Stability refers to the access and availability of adequate food over time and to the extent to which food security is achieved as a consequence of sudden shocks and seasonal events, such as droughts, conflicts and price spikes.

Although food security is often measured with respect to the four pillars, it should be considered that national food security is achieved in two different forms: food sovereignty and food self-‐sufficiency. The former relates to the extent to which a country has the means to meet the food demands that its population needs, whereas the latter implies that a country actual produces to meet the demand by its population (Pinstrup-‐Anderson, 2009).

2.2 The sustainable development goal no. 2: Zero Hunger

Building on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations developed the Sustainable Development Goals to complete what the MDG’s did not achieve. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was enacted on January 1, 2016, mobilising all countries in putting efforts into ending

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all forms of poverty, inequalities and health issues while safeguarding the environment, by the year 2030 (UN, 2015).

17 goals and 169 associated targets were set up, recognising the need for inclusive development, without undermining people’s ability to meet in their daily needs. The SDG’s draws on the definition of sustainable development, as coined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, Our Common Future, 1987)

As the WCED (1987) argues, development and the environment are inseparable; the environment is where we live in and development is everything we do within the environment. Hence, development should go hand-‐in-‐hand with

environmental protection to secure intergenerational equity, meaning that present development should not be at the expense of future generations’ development.

The second Sustainable Development Goal, Zero hunger by 2030, aims to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition. The global food system requires a drastic change if we are to feed today’s 800 million hungry and undernourished people and the additional 2 billion people expected by 2050. In order to achieve the second SDG, 8 targets were outlined:

-‐ End hunger and ensure access by all people. -‐ End all forms of malnutrition.

-‐ Double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-‐scale food producers.

-‐ Ensure sustainable food production systems.

-‐ Maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals.

-‐ Increase investment in rural infrastructure, research, extension services, technology and development.

-‐ Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets.

-‐ Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets in order to limit food price volatility.

(2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015)

The third target, double the productivity and incomes of small-‐scale producers, is of particular interest for FSN strategies. An estimated 500 million small-‐scale food producers provide up to 80% of food consumed in the developing world, especially in rural poor areas (FAO, 2016). If we are to enhance the access and availability of food in poor, rural areas, improving the livelihoods of small-‐scale food producers is an important way to increase food security to rural households directly, as well as indirectly through better access and availability of food on local markets.

The definition by the World Food Summit in 1996, as well as the enactment of the SDG’s in 2016, has reinforced the multidimensional nature of food security. Food insecurity is no longer seen as an effect of crop failure or weak production.

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Rather, food insecurity should be analysed as a social and political construct that require a more holistic approach which considers all problems that are related with sustainable development. A widely used attempt to put sustainability into practice is to focus on livelihoods (Morse & McNamara, 2013).

2.3 The sustainable livelihood framework

In order to examine sustainable development, associated with complex rural development issues, livelihood perspectives could offer a better understanding of the being and doing of people within a given context. Many livelihood

approaches have been adopted in the international development school (Morse & McNamara, 2013). However, the most widely accepted livelihood approach is the Sustainable Development Framework, developed by the British Department for International Development (DFID). The framework draws on a definition of livelihoods by Chambers & Conway (1992):

A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living; a livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation; and which contributes net benefits to other livelihoods at the local and global levels and in the short and the long-‐ term. (Chambers & Conway, 1992)

The Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) provides a tool to conceptualise the activities that people undertake required for a means of living. As Morse & McNamara (2013) argue, the SLF is a people-‐centric approach of the study of sustainable development and poverty alleviation. It identifies the main factors that affect’s people’s livelihoods and builds on the strengths of people to pursue their livelihoods in a sustainable manner.

Figure 1: The Sustainable Livelihood Framework (source: DFID, 2000)

Figure 1 above shows the conceptual design of the Sustainable Livelihood Framework, as developed by the DFID. The framework helps in understanding

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livelihoods in a holistic way, considering the interrelatedness of all aspects that shape the livelihoods of people. As the DFID (2000) explains, it describes people as being stakeholders within a vulnerability context, within which they have access to livelihood assets. The value and weight of these assets are influenced by transforming structures and processes, which shape the livelihood strategies that people adopt in order to pursue their self-‐defined beneficial livelihood outcomes. Hence, the SLF consists off five elements: the vulnerability context, livelihood capital, structures and processes, livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes. All elements are interrelated and are influenced by the extent to which each element prevails (DFID, 2000).

The vulnerability context relates to the environment in which people operate. Vulnerability exist when people are facing harmful shocks, trends and/or seasonality over which they have limited or no control and limited capacity to adapt to or cope with. Shocks are sudden changes in the living environment that directly impact people’s livelihood, such as extreme weather events, conflict or disease. Trends are more long lasting effects on people’s livelihoods, such as population growth or economic depression. With seasonality, the most enduring difficulties are being meant, such as unemployment, food availability and

seasonal shifts in prices.

Livelihood capital, or assets, form the building blocks of people’s livelihoods. The SLF identifies five types of capital that can be owned, controlled, or accessed by people that are required to achieve the desired livelihood outcomes (DFID, 2000):

-‐ Human capital refers to skills, knowledge, good health and ability to labour that enables people to practice their livelihoods.

-‐ Social capital represents the social resources, such as networks,

connections, memberships or community solidarity that empower people to gain more control over their livelihood outcomes.

-‐ Natural capital relates to the natural resources that people use to derive flows and services from, such as trees, water, land and biodiversity. -‐ Physical capital refers to all tangible assets and basic infrastructure that

people use to support their livelihoods and be more productive, such as tools, equipment, road networks and electricity.

-‐ Financial capital includes all sources of stocks or inflows of money, such as savings, remittances, loans, cash or wages.

The capital status in the SLF is visualised in a pentagon and show the variation in capital access. The centre point of the pentagon represents zero access to capital, whereas the outer perimeter represents full access.

The extent to which capital is accessed is influenced and controlled by

transforming structures and processes that create the enabling environment for people to practise their livelihoods and reduce vulnerability. Structures and processes include all kinds of policies, institutions, regulations and organisations operating on different levels and spheres, from local to global and from private to public. Structures are the organisations and legislative bodies, both public and private that determine the functioning of processes, such as policies and

institutions. Governmental organisations are the most obvious form of structures as they form and shape the way individuals interact and operate.

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Livelihood strategies are the activities that people undertake to achieve their desired livelihood goals. Livelihood strategies could also be referred to as adaptive strategies as they determine the adaptive capacity and resiliency of people to the vulnerability context. The range of activities that individuals undertake to become less vulnerable to trends, shocks or seasonality are for example, migration, livelihood diversification, or agricultural intensification. However, livelihood strategies are directly dependent on the capital status and the functioning of transforming structures and processes.

The ultimate goals that the SLF seeks to understand is the extent to which

individuals are able to achieve livelihood outcomes. Livelihood outcomes are the goals that people pursue in order to make a living, such as reduced vulnerability, increased income, wellbeing or food security and a more sustainable use of the natural resource base. The achieved livelihood outcomes, in turn, have effect on the ability of people to access capital, or influence transforming structures and processes, enabling individuals to pursue a sustainable livelihood (DFID, 2000).

3. Global aquaculture expansion: the promise for food security

With the challenge of feeding 9 billion people in 2050, the international debate on meeting global food security has shifted towards a new paradigm (Ahmed & Lorica, 2002). During the past decades, the global debate on food security in developing countries have been dominated by focussing on adequate production of cereals, such as maize and grains and other staple foods, overlooking the importance of a balanced and diversified diet. Micronutrient intake through the consumption of foods from animal sources has been widely acknowledged to reduce undernourishment and improve the diets of the world’s poor. However, in many parts of the developing world, an increase in consumption of food from animal sources has been limited by its affordability, availability and cultural acceptance. Fish and seafood as a source of animal protein and micronutrient intake offer advantages, as they are more affordable, available and preferred in much of the developing world. Interventions related to improving nutritional status through promoting fish consumption have been implemented throughout Asia and Africa (Kwararazuka & Béné, 2010).

As discussed in an earlier chapter, the demand for fish for human consumption has outpaced fish production from capture fisheries. In a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization on the state of fisheries and aquaculture production (2016), fish for human consumption has increased from an estimated 123.8 million tonnes in 2009 to 146.3 million tonnes in 2014, whereas global production from inland and marine capture fisheries has experienced a slight increase from 90.2 million tonnes to 93.4 million tonnes in the same period (FAO, 2016). Since the 1990’s, global production from capture fisheries have remained static around 90 million tonnes per year, with only little differences throughout the years.

Driven by population growth, rising incomes and increased urbanisation, often associated with an increase in animal protein consumption (Béné et al., 2015), the global demand for fish and seafood is projected to keep rising. The gap between fish consumption and supply is bridged with an impressive

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production has increased 12 times, with an average annual growth of 8 percent (HLPE, 2014). Recently, in 2014, aquaculture production has overtaken that of capture fisheries production for human consumption, meaning that over half of the fish that is consumed globally, comes from aquaculture. Although total

capture fisheries remains the top producer of fish and seafood in terms of weight and volume, around 20% of marine and inland capture production is used for non-‐food purposes, such as cosmetics, fishmeal and fish oil. Aquaculture products, on the other hand, are used primarily for direct human consumption (FAO, 2015). Table 1 shows the trend in aquaculture and capture fisheries production of food fish between 2009 and 2015, as estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (2016 and 2015).

Table 1: Global fisheries and aquaculture production and utilization between 2009 and 2015 (source: FAO, 2015 & 2016)

Capture fisheries production 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Inland 10.5 11.3 11.1 11.6 11.7 11.9 11.5 Marine 79.7 77.9 82.6 79.7 81.0 81.5 81.2 Total 90.2 89.1 93.7 91.3 92.7 93.4 92.6 Utilization Non-‐food purposes 22.0 20.0 24.7 20.9 21.4 20.9 … Human consumption 68.2 69.1 69 70.4 71.3 72.5 … Aquaculture production 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Inland 34.3 36.9 38.6 42.0 44.8 47.1 48.8 Marine 21.4 22.1 23.2 24.4 25.5 26.7 27.8 Total 55.7 59.0 61.8 66.5 70.3 73.8 76.6 Utilization Non-‐food Purposes ... … … … 0.041 Human consumption 55.6 59.0 61.8 66.4 70.2 73.7 76.6 3.1 Lessons from China

The growth in aquaculture production in the world is mainly the result of pro-‐ active central government policies with the aim to secure food self-‐sufficiency, livelihood improvements and export value generation. In Asia, where most of aquaculture production takes place (see table 2), aquaculture has been practiced

Note: … = no available data

Table excludes aquatic plant production Numbers are in million tonnes per year

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since time memorial and was mainly dominated in combination with rice cultivation. However, since the late 1960’s, aquaculture expansion began to rapidly develop in many parts of Asia. With China taking the lead in global aquaculture production, many technological and scientific advancements have since been developed and introduced to other parts of Asia.

Table 2: Top 5 producers of farmed aquatic animals in 2014 (Source: FAO, 2016)

Country Production of aquatic

animals Share of world production

China 45469.0 61,6% India 4881.0 6,6% Indonesia 4253.9 5,8% Vietnam 3397.1 4,6% Bangladesh 1956.9 2,7%

Total top 5 producers 59957.9 81,3%

World 73783.7 100%

Under centralised state planning, China’s aquaculture development began to evolve from 1949 onwards. The egalitarian development model singled out the priority to enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor, which constituted of almost 80% of the population at that time. China’s main goal was to use all available domestic resources to meet animal protein needs for its growing population and to secure food self-‐sufficiency (FAO, 2003). Tight government control in the development period under the egalitarian model between 1949 and 1978 demanded full participation of the people. All decisions related to production, namely what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce were made under strict government policy-‐making and external inputs from consumers and producers were ignored. The mandatory participation of rural communities in aquaculture development by the central government led to the creation of required skills and knowledge of fish farmers in aquaculture practice, which further developed the expansion of the sector.

Chinese aquaculture was mainly dominated by the production of different carp species in earthen fish ponds. However, farmers were unable to breed carps in captivity and relied on wild fish seed, or fry, for farm stocking. The supply of carp seed from the wild could not provide for the increasing demand for fish fry. In response of this constraint in aquaculture development, the government prompted scientists and researchers to seek for alternative methods of seed production. In 1958, the Chinese succeeded in the artificially spawning of the big-‐headed carp (H. nobilis), silver carp (H. molitrix) and the white bream (B. bjoerkna) using hormones. The spawning of other freshwater cultured species soon followed. In 1962, 3 billion carp fry were produced and further

development of the aquaculture sub-‐sector accelerated quickly.

When the Chinese economy opened up in 1978, free market forces enabled local governments and later, individuals to determine the transformation and

allocation of productive resources. The privatisation of fish farms, hatcheries and technological institutions, formerly under strict government control, allowed the aquaculture production chain to access international markets. An increasing

Small-­‐scale aquaculture development and its contribution to food security in rural Ghana