Gender Equity and Social Inclusion
Although women and youth (ages 10-29) contribute significantly to aquaculture and fisheries productivity, their contributions have historically been overlooked and/or undervalued. The Fish Innovation Lab promoted culturally sensitive and youth-inclusive research for development through the dissemination of knowledge, tools, recommendations, and promising practices that recognized and accounted for 1) multiple needs and roles of youth, women, and men in small-scale production marketing systems, and 2) multiple domains of influence that facilitate or constrain the participation of youth, women, and men in development and sustainable management along aquatic food value chains.
Resilience
The Fish Innovation Lab funded research for development that increased resilience and reduced risk at different stages of aquatic food value chains and at the household level. By resilience, we are referring to the ability of communities reliant on income, food, and nutrition from aquaculture and fisheries to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses. Aquatic food systems are particularly vulnerable to extreme storm events, unusual fluctuations in temperature and rain, and anthropogenic stresses and shocks. In aquaculture systems, fish are susceptible to disease outbreak shocks that can cause rapid, high mortalities and move swiftly from farm to farm. As a highly traded commodity, fish are susceptible to price fluctuations and are greatly impacted by feed prices. Contamination of fish from foodborne pathogens can also suddenly close trade markets. These are just some examples of how low ecological, environmental, and economic resilience in aquatic food systems may have devastating effects for the households and communities that depend on them. The Fish Innovation Lab ensured that strengthening the resilience of these systems, and the resilience capacities of households who depend on them, was a feature of all activities in order to better prepare communities to address the grave challenges they face.
Capacity Development
Focusing on strengthening the capacity of host-country individuals and organizations, Fish Innovation Lab efforts encompassed the widening diversity of people and institutions that have a stake in aquatic-food-security outcomes and impacts. We mainstreamed capacity-development initiatives that built on a competency-based approach, which recognized the value of both tangible and intangible aspects of capacity development. This approach allowed us to strengthen development conditions across aquatic food value chains; promote community buy-in; and stimulate sustainability and scalability by supporting individuals and organizations to develop, manage, and own capacity-development and learning plans that lead to continuous improvement.