Miscellaneous themes
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12348/719
Browse
Recent Submissions
- This study adds to the expanding literature on diet quality and food accessibility by presenting evidence from Cambodia—a Southeast Asian nation undergoing dietary shifts while grappling with persistent malnutrition—based on nationally representative data. Specifically, we analyze: (1) dietary composition; (2) adequacy of key nutrient intake relative to Estimated Average Requirements (EARs); and (3) the cost of foods and their micronutrient contributions.
- In sensory panel IV (Adults), The ComFA+Fish strawberry flavor instant porridge is a market-leading product with exceptional sensory appeal and usability. Its nearly universal positive ratings on texture and flavor can set a high benchmark to improve the other variants. The ComFA+ strawberry porridge is due to its high acceptability. There is a need to improve plain porridge and the Vanilla+Kapenta variants in terms of flavor and texture. Insights from strawberry's success— such as flavor balancing and texture consistency—could be applied to refine the other variants. In sensory panel V (infants), the ComFA+Fish strawberry flavor instant porridge has the strongest appeal among infants, followed by the vanilla flavor. Strawberry porridge should be prioritized for launch due to its universal appeal among infants and, thus, suitable for mainstream adoption. Vanilla porridge can also be promoted as an option for kids as it performs well across T1, T2 and T3. Vanilla porridge is a big contender for infants and children who like subtle flavors. The ComFA+Fish vanilla flavor extra kapenta porridge must be reformulated to improve broader acceptability. Reducing portion sizes to reduce food waste and encourage children to consume porridge fully may be critical.
- This report contributes to the CGIAR Initiative on Multifunctional Landscapes (MFL) under Area of Work 5 (AoW5): Inclusive Governance and Gender Equality. AoW5 seeks to embed gendertransformative approaches and inclusive decision-making within landscape interventions to ensure equitable benefits for women and marginalized groups. By applying the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) in communities in Attapeu Province, Lao PDR, this activity demonstrates how participatory tools can strengthen household and community planning, challenge entrenched gender norms, and foster inclusive governance. The findings provide actionable insights into integrating gender equality and social inclusion into multifunctional landscape strategies, contributing to sustainable and resilient livelihoods.
- This paper uses case studies of three agri-food systems in Nigeria – cassava, catfish and chicken – to demonstrate the impact of gender norms on women's economic resilience to climate change impacts. It provides insights into how transforming gender norms helps build economic resilience for women. It is based on data collected in Ogun and Oyo states through a stakeholders’ workshop, 55 Individual and Key Informant Interviews and 18 sex-disaggregated Focus Group Discussions. A gender-sensitive resilience approach was developed from literature on resilience approaches and gender transformative processes and used to analyse the data. The paper concludes that gender norms create gendered opportunities and constraints for economic resilience to the impacts of climate change. These opportunities and constraints emerge at the intersection of social institutions, agency and power relations. More men than women have access to and ownership of resources for economic resilience, such as land and finance. Men can often make long-term/strategic plans compared to women's short-term survival tactics. Approaches to promoting women’s economic resilience in climate change scenarios should challenge discriminatory gender norms and integrate gender-sensitive agricultural policies that encourage women’s equal and meaningful participation in all spheres, including at household, community, organizational and macro-environmental levels.
- Cambodia has included fish in its newly launched Third National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition (2024–2028). The strategy, spearheaded by the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), aims to boost food security, nutrition outcomes, and resilience nationwide.
- The Feed the Future Burma, Fish for Livelihoods Activity (2019-2027) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) focusses on improving the nutritional status of vulnerable households in Central and Northern Myanmar by promoting inclusive and sustainable aquaculture growth for small-scale farmers and their communities. This report presents the 2024 survey findings on dietary diversity among women of reproductive age from 34 townships participating in the Activity. For the safety and security of the field survey team, villages deemed unsafe or inaccessible were excluded from the survey sample.
- The Communal Reflection and Action Planning Workshop was organized under Area of Work 5 (AoW5) of the Multifunctional Landscape initiative. This activity focuses on strengthening inclusive community engagement and gender-responsive planning through the Gender Action Learning System (GALS). The workshop provided a platform for participants to reflect on livelihood challenges, analyze gender roles, and co-create actionable solutions for sustainable resource management.
- Cambodia’s diverse natural ecosystems remain central to meeting national development goals. Yet, natural resources management (NRM) is complex, with conflicts over access between uses and users inhibiting more sustainable and equitable development. Water is illustrative, exemplified by the tug-of-war between freshwater ecosystems and rice production in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake’s (TSL) floodplain. This threatens the diversity, productivity, and resilience of aquatic ecosystems, associated food production, and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of households. Despite Cambodia’s decentralized governance structure, the water, fisheries, agriculture and environment sectors exhibit limited cooperation, despite the fact the multi-functionality of water demands collaborative management. Although Cambodia’s development policies call for more cooperation, an innovative institutional model was needed to operationalize this by bringing diverse actors together to resolve local NRM issues.
- Cambodia is advancing a more integrated and collaborative approach to natural resource governance through the establishment of District Working Groups for Food Security and Nutrition (DWG-FSNs). Building on lessons from two pilot District Technical Working Groups (DTWGs) launched in 2024, the model addresses long-standing conflicts between rice farming and fisheries across the Tonle Sap floodplain and Mekong Basin—areas where fragmented management has undermined ecosystem services, livelihoods, and nutrition. Following the successful pilots, the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) began scaling the model nationally in 2025, converting the Ba Phnom DTWG into a DWG-FSN and establishing additional groups in neighboring districts. Positioned as key mechanisms for implementing Cambodia’s 3rd National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition, DWG-FSNs promote coordinated natural resource management, inclusive decision-making, research and monitoring, and resource mobilization, ultimately strengthening local governance and contributing to resilient, sustainable food systems.
- This report summarizes the outcomes of the 24 November 2025 dissemination workshop held in Ba Phnom District, which formally announced the DWG-FSN composition, reviewed progress to date, identified key challenges, and established priority directions for the sustainable management of Boeung Sneh and district-wide food security and nutrition efforts.
- The “Small fish nutrition: Manual for community health and extension workers” is a practical tool designed to support field-level health and extension workers in promoting the nutritional value of small indigenous fish species among rural communities in Bangladesh. The guide provides simple, evidence-based and pictorial messages to help families understand how small fish contribute to improved diets, child growth and development, and community well-being. By using this handout, extension workers can effectively disseminate key nutrition messages that encourage the inclusion of small fish in daily meals for better health and nutrition outcomes. This document has been developed under the CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) Program that bridges research innovations with practical delivery mechanisms to impact at scale.
- This cookbook is a compilation of recipes from across the provinces of Solomon Islands, highlighting aquatic foods, where possible, and their significant contribution to healthy diets. The cookbook also showcases traditional ways of preparing foods to reignite appreciation of the uniqueness of island foods and to celebrate culture. This cookbook has been produced by WorldFish in partnership with the Kastom Gaden Association under the “Island Food Systems in Transition” project that focuses on strengthening indigenous food systems in Solomon Islands.
- The global COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant threat to public health, inflicting enduring hardships upon humanity, particularly among vulnerable populations. Artisanal cross-border fish traders from developing countries like Malawi were severely impacted by imposed control measures. Gender inequalities exacerbated these challenges, forming the basis of this study on informal cross-border traders along the Malawi–Mozambique border near Lake Chilwa during the pandemic. Using an intersectional theory, this research explores how gender disparities were shaped by COVID-19, considering social determinants, consequences, and coping mechanisms in cross-border fish trading. The study employed a cross-sectional qualitative approach, collecting data from 169 participants through focus group discussions (FGDs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), the Cognitive Edge Sensemaker Tool, and the Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis toolkit (EMMA) between April and November 2022. Findings indicate that COVID-19 control measures disproportionately affected female cross-border fish traders, leading to increased human rights violations, particularly sexual exploitation and rape. These violations left women with enduring health traumas, including sexually transmitted diseases. Both men and women employed coping strategies that exposed women to further marginalization and human rights violations. Given the widespread nature of violence across borders, inter-country coordination is crucial to protect the rights of cross-border traders. Policy measures should focus on educating vulnerable women about reporting mechanisms for abusive practices and establishing local support systems where reporting mechanisms are lacking.
- This guideline supports the Nonglom Wetlands Management Committee in conducting villageled action research to identify local challenges, explore solutions, and take collective action for sustainable wetland management. The research aims to produce tangible changes driven by local needs, such as improved fishing regulations. It also enhances local awareness and informs planning, co-management, and monitoring, aligning with the broader goal of building villagers’ capacity to document and communicate local knowledge for sustainable development.
- Adopting a systems approach that bundles bioscience, market, digital and policy innovations, WorldFish advances a portfolio of solutions that deliver measurable results for adaptation and mitigation in line with national climate priorities and provides scaling pathways for achieving large-scale impact and transformative change.
- Ornamental fish keeping has been known since antiquity, with evidence dating back to 500 BCE (Morgan, 2009). Ornamental fish is a catch-all term for aquatic animals kept in aquariums, including fish, and invertebrates such as crustaceans, molluscs, corals, etc. The hobby of ornamental fish keeping and the culture activities through tank breeding and farm production are growing throughout the twenty-first century with improved techniques (Brunner, 2003). The sector has been lauded for its ability to create jobs, alleviate poverty, and contribute to the economic growth of the country (Devi et al., 2016). The global ornamental fish market was worth US$ 6,800 million in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 11,336.47 million by 2025, growing at a rate of over 10% (Report Linker, 2021). The exact number of species currently available in the global aquarium trade is difficult to count due to the unorganized and fragmented supply system, but it is estimated to be over 6,000 (Morgan, 2009; Prakash et al., 2017). Most of the ornamental fishes in the aquarium trade are freshwater and farm-raised, with Asian countries accounting for more than half of the supply (Chapman, 2000; Cato and Brown, 2003).
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to human, animal and plant health, and over recent years the role of the aquatic environment as a hotspot and dissemination route for resistant bacteria has been increasingly recognised. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has identified AMR as a critical area of concern; however, limited studies have been conducted regarding the presence of AMR in aquatic environments in the region. This study addresses this gap by conducting a national surveillance to better understand the prevalence of aquatic AMR. We investigated the phenotypic and genotypic resistances in Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates (n=256) from sewage impacted and unimpacted coastal waters and artificial lakes across the UAE. Multidrug resistance was observed in 34.2% of isolates, with 22.7% exhibiting resistance to 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, cefotaxime and ceftazidime, including 16.6% displaying an extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype. Resistance to fluoroquinolones, macrolides, and carbapenems was also detected. Whole-genome sequencing (n=92) revealed a high prevalence of the fimH virulence gene, as well as conjugative plasmids (IncF, IncA/C and IncY) carrying resistance determinants. Notably, qnrS1 and blaCTX-M-15 resistance genes were identified in 39% of sequenced isolates, while the blaNDM-5 gene was detected for the first time in a single isolate. These findings underscore the need for harmonised AMR surveillance and a regional monitoring framework to assess the environmental dissemination of AMR bacteria in a One Health context.
- Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the entrepreneurial behaviours exhibited by commercial smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, focusing on their socio-economic characteristics, and considers their implication for outcomes of livelihood resilience in a resource-constrained and turbulent rural context. Design/methodology/approach - The study used survey data collected from 430 smallholder farmers in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. Using a two-step cluster analysis, the study constructed a typology of farmers based on their entrepreneurial behaviour and socio-economic characteristics. Findings - The results revealed that commercial smallholder farmers are heterogeneous in terms of their entrepreneurial behaviours. Four clusters were identified: non-entrepreneurial, goal-driven, means-driven and ambidextrous. Beyond their entrepreneurial behaviours, these clusters significantly differ in the socio-economic characterises (gender, age, education levels, farm size, proximity to the market and social connection) and farm performance (seasonal sales per hectare and farm income per hectare). Research limitations/implications - The typology framework relating farmers’ entrepreneurial behaviours to their socio-economic characteristics and business performance is important to tailor and therefore improve the effectiveness of farmer entrepreneurship programmes and policies. In particular, tailoring farmer entrepreneurship education is crucial to distribute land, finance and market resources in purposive ways to promote a combination of smallholder farmers’ effectual and causal behaviours at an early stage of their farm ventures. Originality/value - Researchers still know little about which farmers’ behaviours are entrepreneurial and how these behaviours manifest in action during their commercial farm activities. This research leverages effectuation and causation theory to unveil previously overlooked distinctions on farmers’ entrepreneurial behaviours, thereby enhancing a more grounded understanding of farmer entrepreneurship in a resource-constrained context.
- Salt marsh ecosystems are vital for coastal protection, biodiversity support, and carbon sequestration, while also serving as nurseries for coastal and marine species and improving water quality. This study assessed the extent and ecological significance of the salt marsh ecosystem along the southeast coastal zone of Bangladesh. In addition, the study explored the biota associated with salt marshes, identified anthropogenic stressors affecting them and proposed conservation options. A citizen science-based monitoring approach, along with the scientific sampling, was conducted between July 2023 and June 2024 to collect the data from the study area. The study identified a 34 km-long salt marsh habitat extending from Sitakunda to Kattoli beach along the Chattogram coast of Bangladesh. This saltmarsh habitat is dominated by species Oryza coarctata. Visually higher densities of salt marsh were observed along the Salimpur and Sitakunda coasts. The salt marsh ecosystem of Chattogram coast supports diverse species, including shorebirds, mudskippers, horseshoe crabs, jellyfish, benthic organisms, crabs, shrimps, and fishes. We identified three spatial biodiversity clusters and Cluster 1 had the highest species diversity. This study found that the salt marsh ecosystem along the Chattogram coast serves as a habitat for over 50 salt marsh-associated fish species, which may depend on it for breeding, feeding, and nursery grounds. However, this area faces significant threats from activities such as burning, oil spills, shipbreaking, and fishing. Therefore, this study recommends an integrated approach to conserve the salt marsh ecosystem and its associated biota. This study serves as a unique example of an integrated monitoring strategy that supports conservation initiatives in developing countries.
- Demand for aquatic foods has been increasing rapidly due to population growth, rising incomes, and increasing appreciation for the health benefits of fish consumption (Aung et al., 2022; Naylor, Kishore, et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2022). The rapid growth of aquaculture in the past two decades has been the key contributor to meeting the increasing demand for aquatic foods. Aquatic foods are nutrient-rich (Golden et al., 2021; Thilsted et al., 2016), generate low emissions and impacts on land and water (Gephart et al., 2021; Springmann et al., 2018; Tigchelaar et al., 2022), and contribute to the human health, wellbeing, and livelihoods of rural communities (Crona et al., 2023; Willett et al., 2019). The latest fish foresight studies provide multifaceted insights into future scenarios of technological progress, climate change, population growth, diet transformation, urbanization, investments, and policy shifts in the fish sector and the potential for fish to provide nutrition-sensitive interventions to combating food insecurity and malnutrition at the global, regional and national levels (Bohnes et al., 2020; Chan, Tran, et al., 2021; Chan et al., 2019; Costello et al., 2020; Tran, Chan, et al., 2022; Tran, Chu, et al., 2022; Tran et al., 2023). Further foresight studies are needed to inform policymaking and develop a deeper understanding of the role aquatic foods can play in addressing the nutritional, social, and environmental food system challenges while navigating the trade-offs of pursuing these different goals (Chan, Prager, et al., 2021; Crona et al., 2023).