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Following the fish inland: understanding fish distribution networks for rural development and nutrition security

Food Security volume 11, pages 1417–1432 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

In developing countries, small-scale fisheries are both a pivotal source of livelihood and essential for the nutritional intake of larger food insecure populations. Distribution networks that move fish from landing sites to coastal and inland consumers offer entry points to address livelihood enhancement and food security objectives of rural development initiatives. To be able to utilize fish distribution networks to address national development targets, a sound understanding of how local systems function and are organized is imperative. Here we present an in-depth examination of a domestic market chain in Timor-Leste that supplies small-pelagic fish to coastal and inland communities. We present the market chain’s different commodity flows and its distributive reach, and show how social organization strongly influences people’s access to fish, by determining availability and affordability. We suggest there is potential to advance Timor-Leste’s food and nutrition security targets by engaging with local influential actors and existing social relations across fish distribution networks. We argue that in addition to developing improvements to fish distribution infrastructure, utilizing existing or locally familiar practices, organization and social capital offers opportunity for long term self-sufficiency. Livelihood and food security improvement initiatives involving natural resource-dependent communities are more likely to succeed if they incorporate rural development perspectives, which frame directly targeted interventions (‘intentional’ development) within broader structural contexts (‘immanent’ development).

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Notes

  1. Reference to Bobonaro within the context of this study refers to the Municipality (district), and not the similarly named Administrative Post (subdistrict) or Village (suco).

  2. Other significant market sites in Bobonaro include Batugade, Balibo and Atabae Vila. However, due to its status as Municipality capital, its central location and having the largest population in the Municipality, Maliana is the largest fish distribution point in Bobonaro (Timor-Leste NSD 2015).

  3. Umane fetosaan relations between families are characterised by entitlements bestowed on umane as ‘wife givers’(i.e. wife’s family) and fetosaan as ‘wife takers’ (i.e. husbands family), and duties assigned to manefoun (son in law). The latter reflects a directional power relation that is based on recognition of umane’s efforts and sacrifices in raising the wife. With various marriage relations associated to a family, people typically hold both positions, resulting in a somewhat even distribution of taking and receiving roles (see also Ospina and Hohe 2002; McWilliam 2011; ten Brinke 2018).

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support from staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) in the district of Maliana and the aldeia administrative staff in Beacou. Assistance of WorldFish Timor-Leste staff was critical in setting up the fieldwork, particularly Mario Pereira. We are grateful for the time and information provided by respondents in the village of Beacou, as well as those interviewed in-transit, at markets and in consumer households in and around Maliana. Fieldwork was made possible with funding from a Charles Darwin University (CDU) post doctoral fellowship co-funded through the North Australian Marine Research Alliance (NAMRA) in partnership with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Australian National University (ANU) and the Northern Territory Government [NAMRA-02-2014]. Further support was provided by SwedBio (a programme at Stockholm Resilience Centre), Australian National Centre for Agriculture Research (ACIAR – FIS/2010/097) and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Fish in Agri-food Systems (‘FISH’). Finally, the authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and Neil Andrew for his review of drafts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Dirk J. Steenbergen & Hampus Eriksson

  2. Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    Dirk J. Steenbergen, Kimberley Hunnam & Natasha Stacey

  3. WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, 11960, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia

    Hampus Eriksson & David J. Mills

  4. The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia

    Kimberley Hunnam

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  1. Dirk J. Steenbergen
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Correspondence to Dirk J. Steenbergen.

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Steenbergen, D.J., Eriksson, H., Hunnam, K. et al. Following the fish inland: understanding fish distribution networks for rural development and nutrition security. Food Sec. 11, 1417–1432 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00982-3

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Keywords

  • Coastal livelihoods
  • Fish distribution networks
  • Food and nutrition security
  • Rural development
  • Small-scale fisheries
  • Timor-Leste

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