Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish (Fish Innovation Lab) worked to reduce poverty and improve nutrition, food security, and livelihoods in partner countries by supporting research on sustainable aquatic food systems.
To achieve these goals, the Fish Innovation Lab supported research and capacity-building activities targeting three program areas:
- Efficient aquatic system innovations
- Nutrition and food systems
- Access to improved inputs
The Fish Innovation Lab received its first 5-year grant in September 2018 to support USAID’s agricultural research and capacity-building work under Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. USAID awarded a 5-year extension to the Fish Innovation Lab in 2023. Mississippi State University (MSU) was the program’s management entity. Blue Aquaculture Consulting, Pwani University, RTI International, Texas State University, the University of Rhode Island, Washington University in St. Louis, and WorldFish served as management partners. The Fish Innovation Lab supported 30 projects spanning Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, the Pacific Islands, Peru, the Philippines, and Zambia.
How We Worked
Rich in both macro- and micronutrients, fish and other aquatic foods are among the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. In low- and middle-income countries, more than 2.6 billion people depend on some form of fish for more than 20% of their total animal protein.
How fish and other aquatic foods are produced, caught, processed, distributed, and sold therefore affects the nutrition and livelihoods of small-scale producers and consumers, making safe and sustainable access to aquatic foods a vital part of the U.S. commitment to end global hunger and poverty.
Overall Approach
The Fish Innovation Lab supported and linked research partners around the globe to identify, develop, and scale up promising methodologies and technologies for local aquaculture and fisheries, and to intensify and diversify major aquatic food production systems where the poor and undernourished are concentrated.
Through competitive research subawards, the Fish Innovation Lab funded country-focused research and capacity-building activities. These subawards constituted an integrated, cooperative, multi-institutional research program that aimed to produce applicable research results, increase the capacity of local partners, and support the adoption of new innovations.