By Constanza Gonzalez Parrao, Research Associate, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
In 2018, aquaculture – the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish or seaweed – contributed to nearly half of the world’s fish production. The World Bank has also projected that, by 2030, about 60% of fish destined for human consumption will have been produced through aquaculture.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 18 million people are engaged in the production of fish farming worldwide, of whom 19% are women. However, taking into consideration other related activities, such as the processing or marketing of aquaculture products, women account for half of the workforce.
As aquaculture has become an important economic sector over the last few decades, it also holds great potential to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. By providing a source of income for people in developing countries, increasing the availability and consumption of nutritious food, and improving gender equality in accessing and benefiting from these economic resources, aquaculture is well-positioned as a development solution.
To understand the impact of aquaculture in low- and middle-income countries better, the International Initiative of Impact Evaluation (3ie), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reviewed and analysed the available research evidence internationally. We looked for studies where we could be confident that the impact can be attributed to aquaculture activities, and found evidence for 13 programmes in six countries.
Our systematic review found that participants of aquaculture programmes saw an increase in the value of their production, their incomes and household expenditures, and the amount of fish they consumed.
Additionally, the evidence suggests that programmes with high levels of support to their beneficiaries may have a better chance of positive impact on their lives.
There was not enough evidence to assess the impact of aquaculture on women in particular, nor the cost-effectiveness of the programmes. This is a key finding of the review: while several aquaculture programmes have been implemented in developing countries, there is a need for more, better, and comparable evidence to confidently identify if and how aquaculture can be a development driver in low- and middle-income countries.
Click here to access a plain language summary of the systematic review.
The full review has published in the open access Campbell journal:
Gonzalez Parrao, C., Shisler, S., Moratti, M., Yavuz, C., Acharya, A., Eyers, J., & Snilstveit, B. (2021). Aquaculture for improving productivity, income, nutrition and women’s empowerment in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 17, e1195. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1195