ISARIBI NO.43

ISSN1346-2512

JapanFisheries
AssociationNO.43 Dec. 2004
Sankaido Bldg.,
9-13 Akasaka 1, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, Japan 107-0052
tel: 81-3-3585-6683
http//www.suisankai.or.jp

Views and Opinions of Japan’s Fisheries Industry

FISH FOR PEOPLE--IN THE DECADE OF INCREASING
VER
TY
AIR-DESPAIR-POVER
VERTY
TY,, HUNGER AND DESP
PO
FAO/18306/P.Cecini

Do they know it’s Christmas?

There have been a series of events highlighting the issue of food security in the last few months.
The seafood industry has long been contributing to food security, bringing nutrient-rich food of thesea to people. The Japan Fisheries Association (JFA), as the umbrella organization of the Japanesefishing industry, and as a contributor to the TeleFood campaign launched by the Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (refer to Item 4 on Page 3), is featuring in thisedition of Isaribi the latest developments on the issue of global food security. (Emphasis in bold type
for the quotations has been added by the editor.)

1. 842 MILLION PEOPLE
WORLDWIDE REMAINED HUNGRY‑ 106 COUNTRIES SHARED THEIR CONCERN
AT THE COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD
SECURITY ‑THE PROGRESS HAS BEEN DISAPPOINTING AND SLOWThe opening statement by Mr David Harcharik,
Deputy Director-General, best summarizes the global
situation of food insecurity as follows; “Regrettably,
this progress (towards the primary objective of theWorld Food Summit, to reduce the number ofundernourished people by half by 2015) has been

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS)
held its Thirtieth Session from 20
to 23 September 2004 at FAO
Progress towards the World Food Summit target
Headquarters in Rome. TheCommittee re-iterated its concernthat the progress in reducing thenumber of the undernourishedremained very slow at the global
level. It recognized that the ongoing efforts to fight hunger
were important but insufficient.
It also called for an adequate
response to the challenges ofpoverty and hunger reduction
and display of strong politicalw i l l s o a s t o e n s u re t h eachievement of the goals of theWorld Food Summit (WFS) andMillennium Declaration.

ISARIBI: First published by the Japan Fisheries Association in October 1992. JFA President: Isao Nakasu;
Editor: Masashi NishimuraISARIBI NO.43

DECEMBER 2004

disappointing and slow. FAO estimates that some
842 million people worldwide remained hungry
by the end of the 1990s (1999-2001). This includes
798 million in developing countries, 34 million in thecountries in transition, and 10 million people inindustrialized countries. Sadly, the number ofundernourished people in developing countries declined
by only 9 million from the WFS baseline period (19901992). The current slowdown in the pace ofhunger reduction suggests that the WFS goal will
only be reached if annual reductions accelerateto 26 million per year. This is more than 12 times
the pace of 2.1 million per year achieved todate.”…for most developing countries, the 1990s wasactually a decade of increasing poverty, hunger anddespair. Global progress in reducing hunger slowed.
After falling by 37 million during the first half of the1990s, the total number of hungry people in developing
countries actually increased by 18 million in the second
half of the decade. Regionally, the number ofundernourished people increased in sub-SaharanAfrica, the Near East and North Africa. In fact,
hunger worsened considerably in 49 countries,
while the number of undernourished increased by 60
million in another 26 countries over the same period.

provide more food. It will also be essential to increase
its resilience by protecting a wide array of life forms
with unique traits, such as plants that survive droughtor livestock that reproduce in harsh conditions.
Sustainable agricultural practices can both feed people
and protect the oceans, forests, prairies and otherecosystems that harbour biological diversity.
A rich variety of cultivated plants and domesticatedanimals are the foundation for agricultural biodiversity.
Yet people depend on just 14 mammal and birdspecies for 90 percent of their food supply fromanimals. And just four species - wheat, maize, riceand potato - provide half of our energy from plants.
Rather than a single crop variety that guarantees ahigh yield, farmers in developing countries are more
likely to need an assortment of crops that grow well inharsh climates or animals with resistance to disease.
For the poorest farmers, the diversity of life may betheir best protection against starvation. Consumers alsobenefit from diversity through a wide choice of plantsand animals. This contributes to a nutritious diet,particularly important for rural communities with limitedaccess to markets.

2. WORLD FOOD DAY‑ MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES‑HIGHLIGHTS BIODIVERSITY FOR
FOOD SAFETY‑ DIVERSITY OF LIFE ‑ BEST PROTECTIONAGAINST STARVATION ‑Each year on 16 October, FAO celebrates World
Food Day in commemoration of its founding in1945 at Quebec City, Canada. The theme for World
Food Day and the TeleFood campaign for 2004 is“Biodiversity for Food Security”. It highlights
biodiversity’s role in ensuring that people havesustainable access to enough high-quality food tolead active and healthy lives. The biodiversity’s roleis elucidated on the World Food Day web site as
follows;
Biological diversity is fundamental to agriculture
and food production. People rely on the variety of food,shelter, and goods for their livelihood. Yet, humans put
increasing pressure on species and their environments.
As a result, many plants and animals are at risk, aswell as essential natural processes such as pollination
by insects and the regeneration of soils by microorganisms.
To feed a growing population, agriculture must

3. HIDDEN HUNGER
Is it enough to secure the supply of good quantityof food? The State of Food Insecurity in the World
2002 issued by the FAO warns against the fear of
hidden hunger and underlines the necessity of great
diversity of nutrient-rich foods as follows;
Over 2 billion people world wide suffer frommicronutrient mal nutrition, often called “hiddenhunger”. Their diets supply inadequate amounts ofvitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, iron, iodine,zinc, folate, selenium and vitamin C. Deficiencies
usually occur when the habitual diet lacks diversity anddoes not include sufficient quantities of the fruits,vegetables, dairy products, meat and fish that are thebest sources of many micronutrients.
Micronutrients are essential for human growthand development as well as normal functioning.
The three most common forms of micronutrient
malnutrition are deficiencies of vitamin A, iodine andiron. In developing countries, deficiencies ofmicronutrients often are not present in isolation but exist
in combination.
Children and women are the most vulnerable tomicronutrient deficiencies - children because of thecritical importance of micronutrients for normal growthPage 2

ISARIBI NO.43

DECEMBER 2004

and development, women because of their higher needfor iron, especially during child-bearing years andpregnancy.
The most devastating consequence of iodine
deficiency is reduced mental capacity. Some 20
million people worldwide are mentally handicapped asa result of iodine deficiency, including 100000 born eachyear with irreversible brain damage because theirmothers lacked iodine prior to and during pregnancy.
Most micronutrient deficiencies could be
eliminated by modifying diets to include a greater
diversity of nutrient-rich foods. Promoting homegardens, community fish ponds, and livestock andpoultry production can contribute to increasing dietary
diversity, while improving food supplies and incomesat the same time.

FAO/17095/M. Marzot

4. FOOD FOR ALL‑ FAO TELEFOOD CAMPAIGN HELPSSMALL BUT SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS ‑As the problem of food security is enormous andour pace of progress is 12 times slower than it
should be, we need greater commitment to reducehunger and poverty. As part of such a commitment,
the TeleFood campaign, since its inception in 1991,
has generated more than US$12 million indonations. Money raised through TeleFood pays
for small, sustainable projects that help small-scale
farmers produce more food for their families andcommunities. The following are two of the plentyof success stories of the campaign introduced on
the FAO web site.

because the fish dries unevenly or becomes charred.
In the villages of Temenetaye and Bonfi, TeleFood
funds have been used to support local cooperatives offish-smoking women. About 150 women in the twovillages have been able to replace their ovens with an
improved type, which conserves scarce wood andreduces smoke by concentrating the heat. The
processed fish is therefore of better quality and fetchesa higher price.
The new smoking ovens have now been built, using
locally available mud bricks and stone. The women
were also given basic literacy training to enable themto manage the modest resources available to them.
The impact of the project has been significant: areduction in production costs thanks to more
efficient use of wood for smoking; less damage
to the environment as a result of the reduced
consumption of fuelwood; and, most importantof all, an improvement in the health of the women
doing the smoking, some of whom are among thepoorest in the community
In Mauritania, a new way to preserve the catch
Mauritania - located between Morocco and Senegal- is a desert land with 2 million people and 1 percent
arable land. The country’s marine fisheries are one ofits few resources. But getting fish from the Atlantic
coast to the vast hinterland is a problem because ofspoilage.
The TeleFood Fund has donated US$7,878 to afishing cooperative in the capital Nouakchott so that it
can improve a fish drying operation.
In January, the project started with the identificationof the site for the new drying plant and of experts who
could teach 50 women how to process the fish. InMarch, drying tables were constructed and equipment
such as tubs, knives, aprons and gloves werepurchased. A tonne of salt was acquired for US$180.
By April, production got under way at thebeachfront plant, a step towards improving thelives of the women workers and their families,
and towards getting a good source of protein tocitizens faraway from the coast.

In Guinea, a women’s group gets new fish ovens
Women in fishing communities living along the coastof Guinea, West Africa, are responsible for preserving
the local catch by smoking it over open fires. It is along, hot job and the result is often of poor quality
Page 3

ISARIBI NO.43

5. SO, FEED THE WORLD !
‑ CONTRIBUTION OF SUSTAINABLEFISHERIES TO FOOD SECURITY‑What can fishermen do to help fighthunger? The greatest contribution that thefishing industry can make is to make every
e f fo r t t owa r d t h e c o n s e r vat i o n a n dsustainable utilization of aquatic resources,
catering the riches of the sea to those whoare in need. There are civil movements
dedicated to turning the world’s oceans into
an aquarium. Such movements pursue
intrinsic values of the ecosystem at theexpense of its contribution to global foodsecurity. But we should not forget that there
are always people who desperately need tofeed on such resources. We should help themdiversify their source of income, theirsource of nutrition and enhance theDECEMBER 2004
resilience of their production, making themost out of the ocean. We should spare noeffort to advance this cause because if wemishandle the situation, the victims are quite
often the most vulnerable people such as
the people in the least developed countries,
the aged, women and children. So let’s

feed the world!

FAO/17013/G.Bizzarri

EXCERPT FROM
THE KYOTO DECLARATION AND PLAN OF ACTION ON THE SUSTAINABLE
CONTRIBUTION OF FISHERIES TO FOOD SECURITY
We, the 95 States which met in Kyoto from 4 to 9 December 1995 on the occasion of the International Conference
on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security…
Declare that we should, without prejudice to the rights and obligations of States under international law;
Recognize and appreciate the significant role which marine fisheries, inland fisheries and aquaculture play inproviding food security for the world, both through food supplies and through economic and social well-being;
Recognize and appreciate the important economic and social role of subsistence, artisanal andcommercial fishers and other fishers throughout the world, and seek to provide an environment in which they canmake an optimum contribution to economic and social welfare;
Recognize that FAO projects a potential substantial shortfall by 2010 of the supply of fish and fisheryproducts to meet demands from an increased human population, which in turn will adversely affect world foodsecurity;
Call for an increase in the respect and understanding of social, economic and cultural differences among
States and regions in the use of living aquatic resources, especially cultural diversity in dietary habits, consistent
with management objectives;
Conserve and sustainably use biological diversity and its components in the aquatic environment
and, in particular, prevent practices leading to irreversible changes, such as extinction of genes and species,
genetic erosion and/or large-scale destruction of habitats;
Increase the available supply of fish and fishery products for human consumption, nationally andinternationally, through: (i) making optimum use of harvests and reducing post-harvest losses; (ii) developing,
improving and sharing appropriate storage, processing and distribution technology; and (iii) developing andpromoting effective systems ensuring the safety of food of aquatic origin, including harmonization of international
regulations; andEnhance public awareness of the nutritional and health values of fish and fishery products.

The readers are cordially invited to send their comments on articles in this issue to mnishimu@suisankai.or.jp--Editor