Rome — Boom-and-bust fisheries have untapped potential to bolster livelihoods, resilience and nutrition
Small, fast growing wild fish could be crucial allies in the race to end hunger in some of the world’s most chronically poor and underfed regions, according to a new FAO report on fisheries in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa.
Water is an ephemeral resource in Africa’s dryland regions, with water bodies forming and disappearing in a relatively short period of time. Despite this, fish – some of which weigh as little as a few grams at maturity – can survive and thrive in these environments, meaning the continent’s dryland fisheries are in fact highly productive and resilient, the report says.