The World Fish Center and the MDGs

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) offer a sound, integrated strategy for combating world hunger and poverty. A particular strength of the Goals is their explicit objectives, which set targets for improving various aspects of human well-being by 2015. 

Working to help meet the Goals will be a central focus of the Center’s research activities over the next decade. This commitment is enhanced by the Center’s collaboration with other institutions that bring complementary skills and resources to the shared mission.

Market scene, Vietnam; in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, home to most of the 1.1 billion people who constitute the world’s extreme poor, some population groups depend on fish for as much as 70% of all the animal protein they consume.		Reaping the benefits of sustainable aquaculture

The WorldFish research programme contributes directly or indirectly to achieving all eight Millennium Development Goals. Improved livelihoods from fisheries, both captive and cultivated, help (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Income from fisheries covers school fees and so helps (2) achieve universal primary education and (3) empower women, who provide most of the labor and local marketing in small-scale fisheries.

The abundant, high-quality protein and micronutrients available in fish help (4) reduce child mortality and (5) improve maternal health. The nutritional benefits of fish helps (6) combat HIV/AIDS by making sufferers more resistant to secondary infections and responsive to anti-retroviral drugs. (The average life expectancy for an HIV/AIDS victim in Africa with poor nutrition is less than a year, the figure for those with good nutrition is 9 years). Meanwhile, aquaculture improves the earning potential of those living with HIV/AIDS who are unable to shoulder heavy labor.

Efforts to (7) ensure environmental sustainability must include turning back threats to marine and inland fisheries, which are reliable barometers of water quality and the health of the broader environment. Finally, answering the need for cross-border and regional cooperation to address fisheries-related environmental issues helps (8) advance a global partnership for development.

WorldFish and the Millennium Development Goals: Fishing for a future

Fish & the MDGs: Solutions for Africa (2005)

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