Aquaculture and Fisheries in Ghana and their impact on food security
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
To assess the various effects that aquaculture and fishing have on food security and poverty within Ghana. Data will be collected along the value chain allowing for the broader effects of fishing and aquaculture and their interplay to be measured. There has been a rapid expansion of cage culture in Lake. Artisanal fishermen are under increasing pressure as wild fish catches decline. The effects of these livelihoods on poverty and food security can be measured by conducting field surveys. Contrasting these often interconnected livelihoods will better frame the issues surrounding poverty and food security in this region.
IMACT STATEMENT
This information can then be used to inform and guide key stakeholders such as; policy makers, farmers, development practitioners, and others. The approach could also raise the profile of aquaculture and serve to encourage further adoption and research within Ghana and neighbouring countries. The culmination of the study would be to instruct on guidelines for implementation that would allow government and other relevant stakeholders to implement aquaculture in a sustainable and meaningful fashion. This could be tied in with governmental targets for poverty reduction such as the SDGs, as well as other existing and relevant legislation.
The work carried out in this project will have a number of outputs, they are summarised below:
Year 1:
- Review and summarise current literature on aquaculture and wild capture in Ghana;
- Review the drivers and contributing factors surround food security and poverty in Ghana.
Year 2:
- Conduct and compile stakeholder research of the aquaculture and fishery industry in Ghana.
Year 3:
- Analyse data to determine whether engaging in aquaculture or fisheries has an impact on poverty and food security and produce this into a journal article;
- Create a practical user manual for smallholder production on sustainable aquaculture production;
- Suggest key areas for future development based on constraints and current trends of this market; including value addition and exports and produce this into a journal article;
- Identify the main barriers and drivers of aquaculture production within Ghana based on the data from the open interviews and produce this into a journal article.
