Aquaculture for Poverty Alleviation
and Food Security
Slide 1: Title
1. Good Morning!
Slide 2: World annual average per capita consumption of fish and
fishery products
2. According to FAO statistics, in 1976, on average, the global per
capita fish consumption was 11.6 kg. As of 2007, this figure of
annual per capita consumption increased up to 17.0 kg, a 50%
increase!
Slide 3: World aquaculture production quantity and value
3. Our statistics also shows that, in 1980 global aquaculture
production, including aquatic plants, was around 7.3 million
tonnes. By 2008, this figure increased up to 68.3 million tonnes,
more than a nine fold increase, valued at 105 billion US Dollars.
4. Considering the current trends in population growth, assuming
that capture fisheries production will not increase any further,
and if we are to at least maintain the current 17.0 kg per capita
consumption globally, by the year 2030, we will require an
additional 25 million tonnes of aquatic food, over 40% increase
from the current production.
Slide 4: Text
5. Achieving this is not only a significant task, but also a responsible
undertaking!
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Slide 5: Contribution of aquaculture to world foodfish supply
6. Aquaculture is still the fastest growing food producing sector in
the world. It now accounts for nearly half (46 percent) of the
world’s food fish and this increase is expected to reach 50 percent
in the year 2016.
7. Aquaculture’s social and societal benefits are significant!
Aquaculture helps eliminating hunger and malnutrition by
supplying aquatic products rich in protein, essential fatty acids,
vitamins and minerals. It also makes a significant contribution to
improving social wellbeing by increasing family incomes and
providing employment opportunities.
Slide 6: Number of fishers and fish farmers in the world and China
8. According to FAO figures, in 2004, aquaculture directly created
over 11 million full-time jobs in the world, out of which 4.5 million
in China alone. These figures are increasing.
Slide 7: Income in fish farmers and other farmers in Henan Province
in China
9. Aquaculture clearly enhances households’ disposable incomes
and their ability to purchase food, thus contributing to alleviating
poverty and improving food security. According to a recent survey
by the WorldFish Centre, in Henan province of China, fish farmers
earned much higher, almost double, income than other
agricultural farmers. This scenario does not only reflect in China,
there are similar examples found in many places elsewhere.
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10. Aquaculture also contributes significantly to the national
economies in many developing countries. For example, shrimp
farming is the second largest export revenue in Bangladesh next
to garments. We heard about how much it is worth in the
developed already!
Slide 8: World export of fish and fishery products – Quantity and
Value
11. Most of these economic contributions come in the form of
export earnings. Fish is still the most valuable exported
agricultural commodity from developing countries. In 2007, about
38 percent (live weight equivalent) of world food fish production
was internationally traded, with a value of about US$93.5 billion.
Slide 9: World export of fish and fishery products – Developed and
Developing
12. The share of export earnings is almost equal between developed
and developing world. Export earnings from aquatic food have
been increasing over the past decades, and it is expected to
continue in the coming years.
Slide 10: World shrimp aquaculture production
13. While production and export in fish and fishery products are
increasing, domestic and regional consumption of aquaculture
produce are also increasing. The graph shows the remarkable
increase in global shrimp production during the past decade. It is
interesting to note that, compared to 90% of the production of
Black Tiger Prawn (Penaeus monodon) exported out of China in
1994, today, 90% of the annual shrimp production in China;
currently producing over million tonnes of Penaeus vannamei; is
locally consumed.
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14. As the buying power increases, the fish, once considered as a
luxury commodity, is now becoming a day-to-day common food
commodity. This change is driving to produce more fish, both for
national and international markets.
15. Most aquatic production comes from small-scale farms and
farmers, predominantly from Asia. Over 80% of the estimated 11
million aquaculture farmers in the world are small-scale. For an
example, in Thailand, out of 13,500 farmers currently producing
600,000 tonnes of shrimp, 85% are classified as small-scale.
Slide 11: Millennium development goals
16. Achieving maximum social and societal benefits from aquaculture
is the protection of small-scale farmers from current market
trends and creating an economic environment to reduce their
vulnerability to market forces. This is a clear responsibility for all
of us, working hard to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, the
first goal of the millennium.
17. Whether fish are produced for domestic consumption or
international markets, aquaculture must be practiced in a
responsible manner, addressing the needs for better
environmental sustainability, improved social equity, higher
consumer acceptability and food safety. These are the key
governing factors and pillars of sustainable development of
aquaculture, for achieving optimal economic, social and societal
benefits.
18. This is going to be a significant challenge for all of us in the
coming decades!
Slide 12: Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
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19. The main challenge for policy makers is to create an “enabling
environment” for the aquaculture sector to maintain its growth
whilst meeting societal needs and preserving the natural resource
base it needs. This enabling environment is multi-faceted and
requires significant political will, sustained policy, public sector
support, and investment. This is clearly outlined in the Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
20. Reducing environmental impacts is one of the key considerations
for sustainability. As a result of strong public scrutiny on the
environmental impacts of some forms of inconsiderate
aquaculture development, significant progress have been made
over the past two decades in addressing many of those key
concerns.
Slide 13: Multi-trophic aquaculture
21. Indeed, it is now increasingly recognized that aquaculture can
make a positive contribution to the environment or, wherever
possible, help reduce the negative impacts of other industries and
activities. There are aquaculture systems that contribute to
environmental rehabilitation, or which mitigate the impacts of
effluents from other agricultural and even industrial operations.
The most well-known are integrated farming systems, where
Chuina is the global leader! There are many other examples exist.
Slide 14: Export of aquaculture products
22. There is an ongoing debate about the social and economic
benefits of aquaculture production for export markets,
particularly by the small-scale farmers. Whether we like it or not,
as the demand for fish Iincreases more and more fish will be
produced and exported from developing countries.
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23. Although more and more fish are internationally traded, present
trends in international trade does not appear to work in favour of
small-scale aquaculture sector. There are many reasons. Smallscale farmer sector is not well organized. The commodity prices
are declining and the costs of production is increasing, thus
making the margin of profit inadequate to continue business.
Overall business structure is rapidly changing and the survival of
small-scale farmers against cooperate sector is becoming a
challenge.
Slide 15: Cluster farmers in India
24. With more and more stringent requirements of export markets,
small-scale farmers are facing further difficulties in producing for
export. Empowering small farmers to become competitive in
global trade is not only an urgent need, but also a significant
corporate social responsibility.
25. We have strong evidence that empowering small-scale farmers
through forming farmer societies or clusters to self-regulate their
production process is the key to success in achieving sustained
social and societal benefits from aquaculture! Recent experience
in Andhra Pradesh in India and Aceh in Indonesia are good
examples.
Slide 16: Bottom of the pyramid
26. Successful application of BMPs in Small-scale shrimp farmers in
Aceh, Indonesia clearly demonstrated the impact on reducing the
occurrence of disease in ponds, thus contributing to increased
production. Our experinces in India, Indonesia and Viet Nam
clearly indicate that adoption of better management practices in
small-scale shrimp farming is highly beneficial and siugnificantly
improve farmer revenue.
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Slide 17: Aceh BMP application
27. Stringent market access requirements are creating a considerable
drive for importing and exporting countries to collectively
harmonize standards and protocols, as well as addressing issues of
certification of products and processors. FAO is currently engaged
in the development of international guidelines for aquaculture
certification, and is expecting to culminate the process in
September in Thailand.
Slide 18: Aquaculture certification
28. Declining resource availability, regulatory environment,
economics and increasing demand for fish and fishery products
are forcing the aquaculture sector to intensify. Of these factors,
the declining availability of suitable locations or constraints
imposed by competition for water and increased regulation on
discharges and abstraction appears to be the main driving force.
Slide 19: Text
29. In addition to calling for intensification, these constraints create
opportunities elsewhere. For example, there is an increasing
trend towards sea-farming, with many countries experimenting
open-ocean aquaculture. The challenge is for policymakers to
properly regulate the sector so as to ensure its orderly
development and to discourage high discount rates on the use of
natural resources and, thus, their exploitation beyond carrying
capacity, while ensuring maximum benefits to society.
Slide 20: Text
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30. Though small or big, most successful aquaculture is driven by
private sector investments. Private investments are vulnerable to
political and legal instabilities. Albeit external to the sector, these
factors seriously affect institutional development and deter
private investors, directly and indirectly reducing the societal and
social benefits of aquaculture. Therefore, creating an attractive
economic environment for investors is an important prerequisite
for sustainable aquaculture.
Slide 21: Text
31. As I mentioned earlier, the aquaculture sector is expected to
contribute more effectively to global food security, nutritional
well-being, poverty reduction and economic development, by
producing - with minimum impact on the environment and
maximum benefit to society – 93 million tonnes of aquatic food
by 2030, an increase of 25 million tonnes over the 2008 level.
Slide 22: Constraints
32. Although there are clear indications that aquaculture could bridge
the gap between the expected demand and food fish supply from
the wild, there are many constraints which could dampen or even
stall production increases, thereby preventing aquaculture supply
from meeting expected demand in decades to come.
33. There is a concern that the available marine resources (e.g.
fishmeal and fish oil) may not be sufficient to meet the demand of
projected aquaculture production. Even though the production
of these resources from capture fisheries have remained stagnant
over the last decade and any significant increase is not
anticipated in foreseeable future, there will be, and has been a,
substantial decrease in the amount of fishmeal use by the animal
production sector, particularly in the poultry industry.
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34. Further, it is also expected that the proportion of fishmeal and
fish oil use in aquafeeds will substantially be reduced through the
increasing use of vegetable-based protein and oil as well as
greater efficiencies in feeding. There will be increased production
of fishmeal from fish waste! Under these scenarios, it is unlikely
that the supply of fishmeal and fish oil will be a major limiting
factor in aquaculture feeding.
Slide 23: Text
35. One of the greatest constraints could be the unpredictable and
uncharacterized impact of climate change on aquaculture.
Climate change presents unquantifiable threats of temperatures,
weather and water supply. There is a need for the aquaculture
sector to join other economic sectors in preparing to address the
potential impacts of the planet’s warming.
36. One of the practical responses to climate change in aquaculture
could be to strengthen the adaptive capacity and resilience of the
sector, particularly that of small farmers and aquatic resources
users.
Slide 24: Text
37. Albeit constraints, there is clear evidence that aquaculture can
contribute much more to the social and economic wellbeing of
the developing world. The increased contribution to social
wellbeing of the vulnerable communities would only realise if the
sector is developed responsibly, in keeping with the theories and
practices of sustainability. This is, to a large extent, a national
commitment.
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38. Whilst the level of commitment will inevitably vary within and
among regions, according to the importance of aquaculture in
national economies, it is expected that in countries where
aquaculture contributes, or has the potential to contribute,
substantially to food security, nutritional well-being, poverty
reduction and economic growth, the commitment will hold, the
level of support will increase, and the societal and social benefits
of aquaculture will increase in the developing world.
Slide 25: Thank You!
39. Thank you!