NICE, France, Jun 17 (IPS) – With lower than six harvest seasons left to fulfill the Sustainable Growth Targets (SDGs), the urgency to search out transformative options to finish starvation, shield the oceans, and construct local weather resilience dominated the ninth panel session on the 2025 United Nations Ocean Convention in Good, France.
In a second emblematic of rising African management in ocean sustainability, Tanzania took heart stage through the panel titled “Selling the Function of Sustainable Meals from the Ocean for Poverty Eradication and Meals Safety.” The panel supplied not solely a scientific and policy-rich change of concepts but in addition a uncommon glimpse into how nations like Tanzania are positioning aquatic meals as engines of financial restoration, public well being, and ecological sustainability.
A Defining Voice From the Swahili Coast
Co-chairing the session, Shaaban Ali Othman, Minister for Blue Economic system and Fisheries of Zanzibar, a part of the United Republic of Tanzania, laid out his nation’s blueprint for harnessing ocean sources with out compromising marine ecosystems.
“Our survival is intimately tied to the ocean. It feeds us, it employs our folks, and it holds the promise to carry tens of millions out of poverty,” Othman mentioned, advocating for a redefinition of how the world views aquatic meals techniques. “However this could solely occur if we handle them responsibly.”
He emphasised that for Tanzania, the blue economic system shouldn’t be a buzzword—it’s a foundational technique woven into nationwide improvement planning. As local weather change intensifies and conventional farming struggles underneath erratic rainfall, coastal and inland aquatic meals supply a viable, nutrient-dense various for the nation’s rising inhabitants.
“Communities in Zanzibar and alongside the Tanzanian shoreline have fished for generations, however now we should guarantee these practices aren’t simply conventional, but in addition sustainable and inclusive,” Othman mentioned.
He pointed to Zanzibar’s push to extend seaweed farming, significantly amongst ladies, as a double dividend for vitamin and gender fairness. He additionally highlighted new investments in chilly storage and fish processing services aimed toward lowering post-harvest losses—presently among the many highest within the area.
The World Science Backs Tanzania’s Strategy
His remarks resonated with the scientific panelists, significantly Jörn Schmidt, Science Director for Sustainable Aquatic Meals Methods at WorldFish, who urged nations to carry aquatic meals “from the margins to the mainstream.”
“Aquatic meals are one of many few instruments that may concurrently deal with poverty, starvation, and local weather danger,” mentioned Schmidt. “However they’re usually left off the desk—each actually and figuratively.”
Schmidt referred to as for pressing motion on three fronts: vitamin, manufacturing, and fairness. He cited analysis exhibiting that even modest will increase in aquatic meals consumption within the first 1,000 days of life may considerably scale back stunting and enhance cognitive improvement. For manufacturing, he advisable low-impact, high-return techniques equivalent to seaweed and bivalves. On fairness, he urged safe tenure for small-scale fishers, gender inclusion, and expanded social protections.
Barange famous that in 2023 alone, international fish manufacturing hit 189 million tons, delivering about 21 kilograms of aquatic animal protein per capita. Nevertheless, an alarming 23.8 million tons—nearly 15 p.c—was misplaced or wasted resulting from poor dealing with and inefficient distribution techniques.
“These losses aren’t nearly meals—they’re misplaced vitamin, misplaced revenue, and misplaced alternative,” mentioned Barange, including that if correctly managed, aquatic meals might be the spine of a world “blue transformation.”
Tanzania’s Name for Fairness and Innovation
Othman used the chance to underline that the success of aquatic meals techniques should additionally handle inequality—significantly the function of ladies and youth within the sector.
“Throughout Tanzania, from Kigamboni to Kilwa, ladies are drying fish, farming seaweed, and promoting aquatic produce in markets. However they want entry to capital, to raised expertise, and most significantly, to decision-making areas,” he mentioned.
To that finish, Tanzania has begun piloting aquatic meals coaching centres aimed toward equipping youth with climate-smart aquaculture expertise, together with sustainable pond farming and low-carbon feed strategies.
“That is how we transfer from potential to prosperity,” Othman mentioned.
A Blueprint for World Motion
The panel additionally featured a spread of high-level contributions aimed toward linking aquatic meals to broader improvement frameworks. Rhea Moss-Christian, Govt Director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Fee, underscored the financial lifeline that tuna fisheries signify for small island creating states. She emphasised that tuna isn’t just a meals supply, however a pillar of public finance, particularly within the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
“Let’s be clear,” she mentioned. “In some Pacific nations, tuna income funds colleges, hospitals and roads. A wholesome tuna fishery is existential.”
Her message echoed Tanzania’s personal battle to steadiness financial imperatives with conservation, particularly within the face of unlawful fishing and weak monitoring infrastructure. Minister Othman referred to as for stronger regional cooperation in preventing these threats, together with shared surveillance and satellite-based monitoring techniques.
CGIAR and the Seaweed Resolution
Including one other layer of urgency, Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted of CGIAR warned that the world is “falling behind on SDG 2 and SDG 14.” She championed seaweed as a sustainable aquatic superfood with huge potential, significantly for South Asia and Africa.
“Tanzania, with its lengthy shoreline and established seaweed tradition, is ideally positioned to steer on this area,” she mentioned.
She referred to as for extra private and non-private funding to scale improvements, help native entrepreneurs, and combine aquatic meals into college feeding and public procurement programmes.
“Allow us to not miss this chance,” she added. “The ocean can feed us—if we let it.”
Resilience within the Face of Disaster
Ciyong Zou, Deputy Director-Common of the United Nations Industrial Growth Group (UNIDO), highlighted the broader resilience advantages of aquatic meals techniques. He famous that aquatic meals help over 3 billion folks globally, but post-harvest losses—as much as 30 p.c in creating nations—undermine their potential.
He supplied case research from Cambodia and Sudan, the place focused investments in processing and coaching led to larger incomes and improved youngster vitamin. He introduced UNIDO’s voluntary dedication to develop technical help to 10 extra coastal nations by 2030.
“For nations like Tanzania, this might imply new instruments, cleaner manufacturing strategies, and extra resilient livelihoods,” Zou mentioned.
Name to Motion
Because the panel drew to an in depth, one theme stood out: aquatic meals techniques aren’t merely about fish or seaweed—they’re about dignity, sovereignty, and survival.
“We have to democratize entry to information, empower communities, and make sure that small-scale fishers, particularly ladies, aren’t left behind,” Othman insisted.
Again in Tanzania, the ripple results of such commitments are already being felt. In Kisiwa Panza, a small island in Pemba, a women-led seaweed cooperative just lately started exporting to Europe, due to technical help from native NGOs and authorities backing. “It’s a brand new life,” mentioned Asha Mzee, one of many cooperative’s founders. “Earlier than, we fished solely what we wanted. Now, we develop for the world.”
With nations like Tanzania stepping ahead, the ocean—so lengthy exploited—is being reimagined as a supply of renewal. However the clock is ticking.
“In 2030, we’ll be requested what we did with these six remaining harvests,” Othman mentioned in his last remarks. “Let’s guarantee our reply is-we used them to feed folks, shield our planet, and go away nobody behind.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
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