At a Side Event at the ongoing CFS46 (Committee on World Food Security Session 46) at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, several organizations, including the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), urged that “we should include food security and nutrition in work related to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, likewise include aquatic food in the work related to food security and nutrition. A holistic view is needed to reach our goals such as the Sustainable Developing Goals. Bringing people together, working with different issues along the food chain “from healthy waters to healthy people” is important, to break down the siloes and move forward”.
Titled “Treasures of the oceans and inland waters – ensuring food security and nourishing nations: Gaining and sharing knowledge in the Decade of Action on Nutrition. From healthy waters to healthy people.”, the Side Event (SE120), took place on 14 October 2019.
The Global Action Network on Food from the Ocean and Inland Waters for Food Security and Nutrition (GAN), under the Decade of Action on Nutrition, seeks to highlight the important role of aquatic foods in achieving food security and nutrition. From a sufficient food point of view, finding sustainable feed sources in aquaculture and the importance of small-scale fisheries for food security must be recognized.
Aquatic food can be a key source of both macro and micronutrients for nourishing nations. Knowledge about the levels of healthy nutrients and foreign substances is important to understand the role of different aquatic foods to achieve food security, the Side Event noted.