Fisheries

Agriculture and fisheries for improved nutrition: integrated agri-food system analyses for the Pacific region

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Reef fish for sale at Gizo market, Western Province, Solomon Islands. Photo by Filip Milovac / WorldFish
Project code
FIS/2018/155
Program
Budget
AUD 2,359,997
Research program manager
Prof Ann Fleming
Project leader
Prof Neil Andrew
Commissioned organisation
University of Wollongong
Duration:
AUG 2019
MAR 2023
Project status
Legally committed/Active
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Overview

This project is analysing Pacific agri-food systems to promote healthier, more diverse diets for people.

The Pacific food system is failing to provide the people of the region with nutritious food. The many paradoxes of apparently abundant fish, vegetables and root crops with poor public health outcomes presents a significant challenge for policy makers.

Per capita agricultural and coastal fisheries production are declining, and imports of nutritionally unrewarding food are increasing. These trends, along with external drivers including urbanization, migration, and globalized food trade conflate to accelerate the nutrition transition in the region. As a consequence, Pacific island countries are greatly affected by the triple burden of malnutrition - the coexistence of undernutrition, nutrient deficiencies, and obesity.

The project will bring together communities, provincial and national line agencies to recommend actions to improve local food environments, and support national policies to promote healthier, more diverse diets.

Expected outcomes

  • Complete integrated analyses of dimensions of the agri-food system at regional and national scales
  • Analyse policy coherence across food system sectors and identify opportunities to strengthen policy in focal countries
  • Characterise informal markets and prioritise actions that enhance nutritional outcomes from local food environments in Solomon Islands
  • Develop diagnostic tools to improve policy interventions in national agri-food systems and improved metrics for reporting status and progress against national, regional and global targets
Map
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Map of the Pacific showing Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Key partners
CSIRO
Pacific Community Fiji
University of Sydney
University of Wollongong
WorldFish Center
Documents
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fact sheet placeholder image
Fact Sheet FIS/2018/155