Category Research project
  • Mikrobiologie

Small Fish and Food Security: Towards innovative integration of fish in African food systems to improve nutrition

Project status
Completed
Project start
Sept 2018
Project end
Aug 2022
Acronym
SmallFishFood
Department
Biologische Sicherheit
Website
https://smallfishfood.org/

Description and Objective

SmallFishFood is an interdisciplinary project working on four inter-connected objectives: • Identify, quantify and map current patterns of production and distribution of small fish for food and feed, with particular reference to Ghana, Kenya and Uganda; • Identify and describe the harvesting, marketing and utilization patterns of small fish and how they contribute to food and nutritional security in these countries; • Improve the production processes to achieve better quality and longer shelf life; • Disseminate the value of small fish species to stakeholders and governance agencies and analyse how barriers to sustainable utilization can be resolved.

Result

Samples of processed small fish species from different markets in Ghana and Kenya were analyzed for nutrients, microbiological quality, and contaminants. Most of the processed fish species contained significant amounts of several vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. Some environmental contaminants showed elevated levels. High numbers of total bacteria counts, E. coli, coliform bacteria and low numbers of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli were found. In smoked samples, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) reached high concentrations. Future research is needed to determine potential sources of contamination along the value chain, identify critical points, and develop applicable mitigation strategies to improve the quality and safety of small processed fish in Ghana and Kenya.
Type of project

Third-party funded project

Research focus

Expositionsabschätzung und Bewertung biologischer Risiken / Forschung zur Sicherheit nationaler und internationaler Warenketten / Internationale Zusammenarbeit

Organisational units and partners

Lead specialist group: Tierhaltung und Versuchstierkunde (95)
Contact persons: Dr. Johannes Pucher
External partner: Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Universität Bergen, Institute of Marine Research

Funding body and grant number

Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft
Finanzierung durch BLE Förderkennzeichen: 2817LEAP06

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