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Reassessing the food security implications of export-oriented aquaculture in Bangladesh

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Abstract

The global demand for high-value shrimp has driven the gradual growth of shrimp farming in Bangladesh and its export to the international market over the last four decades. This shift from rice production to shrimp farming was criticized in literature for exporting nutrients from a country already suffering from malnutrition and a ‘hidden hunger’. Using questionnaires and data from across a variety of markets in the southwest region of Bangladesh (Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat districts), the heart of the country’s shrimp production, this study showed that the shrimp export industry in Bangladesh supports a thriving fish production sector destined to national markets. The co-produced fish and shrimp volume and species variety indicate its polyculture. The study found that 17% of the southwest total fish volume in wet weight was exported to the global market and 83% remained within Bangladesh. In domestic share, about 30% is consumed in southwest Bangladesh and 53% is destined to other parts of the country. It also revealed that from 33 to 41% shrimp and 43 to 46% prawn in volume was consumed within the country and the rest was destined for the international market from the southwest coastal area of Bangladesh. The study indicates that this small-scale polyculture system provides good support for local food supply, exports earnings of Bangladesh and combats with malnutrition in this region affected by climate change.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Notes

  1. [In 2018–19; 1 USD = 84 BDT; Reference: https://www.bb.org.bd/en/index.php/econdata/exchangerate].

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Dr. Francis Murray, Prof. David C Little, and Alexandra Pounds from the University of Stirling, UK, and Ben Belton from Michigan State University, USA, for their kind support and for reviewing the paper.

Funding

This piece of work was partially supported by the INSPIRE (International Strategic Partnership in Research and Education) a British Council coordinated project to strengthen significantly the partnerships between UK universities and universities in the priority countries in the region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh

    Taushik Lahiri & Abdullah-Al Mamun

  2. WorldFish, Bangladesh and South-Asia Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Taushik Lahiri & Muhammad Arifur Rahman

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  1. Taushik Lahiri
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  2. Muhammad Arifur Rahman
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  3. Abdullah-Al Mamun
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Contributions

Taushik Lahiri: methodology, data collection and analysis, writing—original draft, finalized the manuscript.

Muhammad Arifur Rahman: data analysis, writing—review and editing.

Abdullah-Al Mamun: conceived, designed, writing—review and editing, supervised the research and edited the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Abdullah-Al Mamun.

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Lahiri, T., Rahman, M.A. & Mamun, AA. Reassessing the food security implications of export-oriented aquaculture in Bangladesh. Aquacult Int 31, 1143–1162 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-022-01019-x

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