RESPONSIBLE FISH TRADE AND FOOD SECURITY Toward understanding the relationship between international fish trade and food security Report of the study on the impact of international trade in fishery products on food security Conducted jointly by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs RESPONSIBLE FISH TRADE AND FOOD SECURITY Toward understanding the relationship between international fish trade and food security Prepared by: John Kurien Fellow Centre for Development Studies Trivandrum, India With Inputs from: Sjef van Eijs (Nicaragua) José Augusto Negreiro Aragão and René Schärer (Brazil) Roberto de Andrade (Chile) Andrew Murray and Mamadou Mar Faye (Senegal) M.A.Mensah, K.A.Koranteng, D.Yeboah and A.Bortey (Ghana) Hopolang Phororo and Rehabeam Shilimela (Namibia) Richard O Abila (Kenya) Oscar Amarasinghe (Sri Lanka) Somying Piumsombun (Thailand) Cesar Allan C Vera Jr. (Philippines) V.R.Bidesi, N.Evans, J.Raj, J. Rajan and D.Williams (Fiji ); Nicole Franz and Paola Sabatini (FAO, Rome) Rome April 2004 ii iii CONTENTS Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations x Fact Sheet xi Executive Summary xii 1. Fish Trade and Food Security: 1 An Introductory Overview 1.1 Background 1 1.2 International fish trade in history 2 1.3 International fish trade today: some stylized facts 3 1.4 Fish for food security 5 1.5 For a greater understanding of food security 8 1.6 Food security as a human right 10 1.7 Fish trade and food security 11 1.8 Fish trade and food security: market, state and civil society 11 1.9 The way forward 12 2. Analysing International Fish Trade: 16 The ‘Global’ Food Security Perspective 2.1 Fish production 16 2.2 The realms of production 18 2.3 International trade 19 2.4 Fish trade and direct food security 21 2.5 Domestic fish supply 22 2.6 Understanding the fishery product trade of the LIFDC 24 2.6.1 Exports 24 2.6.2 Imports 27 2.7 WTO, fish trade and food security 30 2.7.1 Free trade and food security 30 2.7.2 Fish trade and fish prices 32 2.7.3 Value addition and food security 33 2.8 Conclusion 35 Annexure: Export and Imports of LIFDCs 36 iv 3. Fish Trade and Food Security: 40 The ‘Micro’ Evidence from Countries 3.1 Impact on the nation 40 3.2 Impact on income and well-being of the fishers 44 3.3 Impact on fish workers involved in processing 49 3.4 Impact on fish consumption of poorer consumers 54 3.5 Impact on fishery resource and ecosystem integrity 59 3.6 Moving along the ‘micro-global’ spectrum 61 4. Fish Trade and Food Security: Some Policy Perspectives 63 4.1 Resource management, convivial technology and sustainable 63 consumption for food security 4.2 Chain of custody control and food security 66 4.3 Gender, sustainable trade and food security 68 4.4 Infrastructure, environment and domestic marketing for food security 70 and food safety 4.5 Data and information requirements for food security 73 4.6 Responsible international trade and food security 75 4.7 Conclusion 78 5. Fish Trade and Food Security: What is to be done? 79 5.1 Resource management 79 5.2 Chain of custody and trade structure 80 5.3 Fish as food 81 5.4 Workers’ welfare 81 5.5 Infrastructure 82 5.6 Data and information 83 5.7 Trade capacity building 84 5.8 Cooperation between countries 84 5.9 Responsible trade 85 5.10 Responsible consumption 86 5.11 Conclusion 87 v Appendix 1: List of the 82 Low Income Food Deficit Countries 88 Appendix 2: Methodology for Selection of Countries 89 Appendix 3: Country wise Summary of Impact of International Trade 91 3.1 Nicaragua 92 3.2 Brazil 93 3.3 Chile 94 3.4 Senegal 95 3.5 Ghana 96 3.5 Namibia 97 3.7 Kenya 98 3.8 Sri Lanka 99 3.9 Thailand 100 3.10 Philippines 101 3.11 Fiji 102 Appendix 4: Scoring the Impact of International Trade on Food Security 103 Appendix 5: List of Institutions and Persons Consulted 104 Appendix 6: Terms of Reference 106 References 107 vi LIST OF TABLES 1.1 Some Characteristics of the Countries Chosen for Detailed Case Study 13 2.1 Trends in Fish Production (FP) and Human Population (HP) 17 2.2 Realms of Fish Production 18 2.3 Trends in Fishery Products Exports and Imports 20 2.4 Trends in Proportion of Fish Production Being Exported 21 2.5 Domestic Food Fish Supply Resulting from Changes in Production, Non- 23 Food Use, Imports and Exports 2.6 Value of LIFDC Trade in Fishery Products (EXPORTS) 25 2.7 Value of LIFDC Trade in Fishery Products (IMPORTS) 27 2.8 Quantity of LIFDC Trade and Share of Fishery Products (IMPORTS) 28 2.9 Fish Production, Export and Imports, in Live Weight Equivalent and Value 31 (1990-2000) 2.10 Unit Value of Live Weight (UVLW) of LIFDC Fishery Product Imports and 32 Exports 2.11 Fishery Products Terms of Trade (product weight) 33 2.12 Export Value of Prepared and Preserved Fishery Products as a Share of 34 Total Export of Developed, Developing and LIFDCs 2.13 Export Concentration and Structural Change Indices 35 ANNEXURE TABLES Table 1: Fishery Exports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 1976 36 Table 2: Fishery Exports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 1984 36 Table 3: Fishery Exports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 1995 37 Table 4: Fishery Exports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 2001 37 Table 5: Fishery Imports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 1976 38 Table 6: Fishery Imports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 1984 38 Table 7: Fishery Imports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 1995 39 Table 8: Fishery Imports of LIFDCs by Product and Process in 2001 39 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Fish has always been a highly traded commodity 4 Figure 1.2 Contribution of fish to human diet 8 Figure 1.3 Schematic diagram showing how international trade in fishery products can reduce or enhance food security 14 Figure 2.1 World and LIFDC fish production in marine, aquaculture and 19 inland realms Figure 2.2 Trends in proportion of fish production being exported 22 Figure 2.3 Value of LIFDC exports and imports 29 Figure 3.1 Food Imports and fish exports in LIFDCs 42 LIST OF BOXES 1.1 Role of fish in human nutrition 7 2.1 Per capita supply of fish and the real per capita availability of fish to the fish 22 eaters in the population of a country 3.1 State and market participation in international fish trade for food security in 43 Sri Lanka 3.2 Corporate social responsibility: prerequisite for greater environmental 52 integrity and food security in Chilean aquaculture 3.3 Viewing food security provisioning as an investment for Nicaragua’s future 56 3.4 International trade motivates fishers to undertake resource management in 60 Brazil 3.5 The ‘micro-global’ conflicts: the case of fish meal in Kenya 62 4.1 Cooperative labour and safety net arrangements for fish workers in 67 Philippines 4.2 Domestic fish marketing channels in the world’s largest fish exporting nation 71 – Thailand 4.3 Data quality and impact analysis: the case of Fiji 74 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Several persons and institutions, too many to be named individually, have contributed their valuable time and knowledge toward the successful completion of this study. The main sponsors were The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. They maintained sustained interest in the study and greatly facilitated its organisation and timely completion with their finances and the professional expertise of their staff. The FAO-Netherlands Partnership Program was gracious enough to co-sponsor the efforts at a later stage. The members of the International Advisory Group, some of the leading professionals in fisheries today, provided the much-needed moral and intellectual support to help launch the study. They also followed its progress with sustained interest. The members of the Expert Group, an inter-disciplinary think-tank, helped in the formulation of the study guidelines and in the selection of the countries which case studies were to be conducted and the consultants to undertake the task. They also provided critical suggestions at every stage of the study and helpful comments on the draft reports. The team of National Consultants, a knowledgeable set of persons with a keen understanding of the reality of the people involved in their country’s fisheries, undertook the case studies within a very limited time frame. The core of this report is based on the information provided by their dedicated endeavours. The final draft report was reviewed by the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromso, the Technical Department of NORAD, the Department of Trade Policy, Resources and Environmental Affairs of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries, the Evaluation Department of NORAD as well as several individuals in the Fisheries Department of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome and the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, India. The enthusiastic support and constant guidance from such a large number of dedicated and knowledgeable collaborators, made my task as Chief Consultant to the study and author of this report, easier and enjoyable. I wish to thank all of them individually and collectively for seeing this study through. However, I assume full responsibility for the opinions expressed in this report.