Harnessing dietary nutrients of underutilised fish and fish-based products in Uganda (CultiAF 2)

 

Objective: Little is known about the Women's Agency in Nutrition (WAN), through which Women's Empowerment in Agriculture (WEA) might relate to improvements in women’s individual food security (WFS). This study examined: (1) the relationship between aggregated and disaggregated measures of WEA with four WAN measures and with WFS; and (2) the moderator effect of two measures of WAN in the pathway from WEA to WFS. Design: We used the Project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) to measure aggregated and disaggregated WEA and four measures of WAN comprising women’s agency on their own diet (regularly, and during pregnancy or breastfeeding) and food purchase. Differential associations of WEA with WFS were assessed using the test of three-way interactions between WEA, women’s agency on their regular diet, and women’s agency on food purchase. Setting: Six fish landing sites in Uganda Participants: Primary female decision-maker in households (n = 380) Results: Aggregated WEA was positively associated with WFS. The results of testing the moderating effect of WAN measures in the pathway from WEA to WFS showed that food purchase can strengthen the positive impact of WEA on WFS. However, we found no association between aggregated WEA and different WAN measures. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that bundling WEA with women’s increased food purchase agency boosts the impact of WEA on WFS and can be considered in future nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions as an effective strategy in meeting their nutritional goals.

Nutritional deficiencies are widespread in poor, rural, and urban communities in Uganda, particularly among women of reproductive age and children under 5 years. Limited access to animal protein and micronutrient rich foods, especially fish, is a major contributing factor. Fish has become less available due to declining stocks of large fish, coupled with high exports and post-harvest losses. As a result, the country is consuming only half of the FAO recommended amount of fish. This is expected to decline further due to the high population growth rate in Uganda. The goal of the NutriFish project was to increase availability, accessibility and consumption of under-utilized small fishes and fish processing by-products for sustainable food and nutrition security and better livelihoods of vulnerable groups in Uganda. This report highlights key project achievements, innovative outputs, outcomes, lessons learned and recommendations for future interventions.

The purpose of this endline study was to assess the impact of the NutriFish project interventions on women's empowerment and gender equality within fishing communities in Uganda. The results indicate that the project’s interventions have had a positive impact on fishing communities, particularly women. Women's participation in the Mukene value chain has increased which has led to a reduction in the “fish for sex” practices. Moreover, is has challenged the stereotype that women cannot work in public spaces and related community perceptions have changed. Finally, the solar tent dryer has not only improved the quality of mukene but has also increased women's leisure time and participation in other profitable ventures. Intensification of project interventions and scaling them out to non-intervention landing sites will greatly contribute to positive gender outcomes, such as women's empowerment and gender equality.

The aim of the project is to increase availability, accessibility and consumption of under-utilized small fishes and fish-based products for sustainable food and nutrition security and improved livelihoods. The NutriFish project has five specific objectives: 1) Quantifying status of fish stock and evaluating variation in nutrient composition across three lakes (Victoria, Nabugabo and Albert); 2) Assessing socio-economic and institutional factors constraining access to and use of underutilized fishes and fish-based products; 3) Quantifying post-harvest losses and promoting cost-effective handling and processing technologies for USF and NPB; 4) Developing fish-based complementary foods for vulnerable groups using USF and NPB and developing marketing models for efficient distribution of fish based products; 5) Enhance capacity of partner institutions to sustain availability and consumption of USF and fish-based products.

Micronutrient deficiencies and food insecurity constitute major threats to human health across Africa. With decreasing availability of large-bodied fishes (>20 cm), strategies have developed to target small pelagic fish (SPF) species (<20 cm total length) to improve the food availability; yet little is known regarding their nutritional content. Three species of SPFs - Engraulicypris bredoi (muziri), Brycinus nurse (ragoogi) and Rastrineobola argentea (mukene) - were collected from lakes Albert, Victoria, and Nabugabo in Uganda, East Africa. The content of essential elements (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, Se, and Zn) and non-essential, potentially toxic elements (Cd and Pb) were measured and compared in fishes across landing sites within lakes Victoria (R. argentea) and Albert (B. nurse, E. bredoi) and between lakes (R. argentea). Rastrineobola argentea was the most nutritious of the fishes examined, although some variation was present in their elemental concentration among landing sites. Overall, all three species contain high levels of essential nutrients and fall within a safe range for non-essential, toxic elements based on current consumption habits. These SPFs can play an important role in addressing nutritional deficiencies in Uganda, and effort should be made to increase the availability, accessibility, and consumption of these under-utilized small fishes.