Dietary inadequacy in Tanzania is linked to the rising cost of nutritious foods and consumption of food-away-from-home.

This study contributes to the growing literature on dietary quality and accessibility in the Global South. We analyze the nutrition implications of changing dietary patterns between 2008 and 2019 in one of Africa's largest and fastest growing economies, Tanzania, and compare patterns at national and sub-national scales. We find that: (1) Rising incomes have not been associated with marked increases in the diversity of food consumed at home; (2) Consumption of food away from home has increased dramatically; (3) Most food consumed in Tanzanian homes is purchased instead of self-produced; (4) There have not been clear improvements in the adequacy of micronutrient consumption obtained from food eaten at home; (5) The most affordable sources of key micronutrients, including nutrient dense foods such as dried fish, have become more expensive. Our findings indicate that in Tanzania the amount and diversity of nutritious foods eaten at home have not improved with rising incomes, but consumption of energy-dense processed foods eaten away from home has increased rapidly, likely reflecting differences in convenience and relative prices. To improve Tanzanian diets in coming years, coordinated nutrition-sensitive policy actions will be required on both the supply- and demand-sides.

The future of fish in Africa: Employment and investment opportunities.

One of the most pressing challenges facing food systems in Africa is ensuring availability of a healthy and sustainable diet to 2.4 billion people by 2050. The continent has struggled with development challenges, particularly chronic food insecurity and pervasive poverty. In Africa's food systems, fish and other aquatic foods play a multifaceted role in generating income, and providing a critical source of essential micronutrients. To date, there are no estimates of investment and potential returns for domestic fish production in Africa. To contribute to policy debates about the future of fish in Africa, we applied the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agriculture Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) to explore two Pan-African scenarios for fish sector growth: a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario and a high-growth scenario for capture fisheries and aquaculture with accompanying strong gross domestic product growth (HIGH). Post-model analysis was used to estimate employment and aquaculture investment requirements for the sector in Africa. Africa's fish sector is estimated to support 20.7 million jobs in 2030, and 21.6 million by 2050 under the BAU. Approximately 2.6 people will be employed indirectly along fisheries and aquaculture value chains for every person directly employed in the fish production stage. Under the HIGH scenario, total employment in Africa's fish food system will reach 58.0 million jobs, representing 2.4% of total projected population in Africa by 2050. Aquaculture production value is estimated to achieve US$ 3.3 billion and US$ 20.4 billion per year under the BAU and HIGH scenarios by 2050, respectively. Farm-gate investment costs for the three key inputs (fish feeds, farm labor, and fish seed) to achieve the aquaculture volumes projected by 2050 are estimated at US$ 1.8 billion per year under the BAU and US$ 11.6 billion per year under the HIGH scenario. Sustained investments are critical to sustain capture fisheries and support aquaculture growth for food system transformation towards healthier diets.

Experimental and survey-based data on willingness to pay for seafood safety and environmental sustainability certification in Nigeria.

Aquatic foods, including fish, are a substantial component of animal source foods globally, and make a critical nutritional contribution to diets in many contexts. In the global North, concern among consumers and regulators over the safety and environmental sustainability of seafood, particularly in developed nations, has led to the development of increasingly stringent seafood safety standards. While such standards may constitute regularity, logistical, and economic barriers to participation in export markets by small-scale producers, they have in other contexts catalysed upgrades to production and post-harvest handling practices within value chains associated with both capture fisheries and aquaculture. The health burden of foodborne illnesses is a major concern in developing countries. As incomes rise, consumers in developing countries are increasingly willing to pay a premium for safer and environmentally sustainable foods. However, there is little empirical evidence on consumers' willingness to pay for seafood safety in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Data on demand for seafood safety and environmental sustainability certification in African countries are largely unavailable in the public domain. In this paper, we describe data collected in Lagos State, Nigeria in October and November 2019. Experiments in the form of Becker-DeGroote-Marschak (BDM) auction mechanism, and post experiment surveys were conducted with 200 fish consumers in fish markets. These data can be used to assess whether consumers' demand for safe and healthy seafood from local markets can be harnessed to generate positive economic returns to producers.