Africa: Why Healthy Oceans Are Essential for Food Security in Africa

Mombasa — Fish are often described as one of Africa's most overlooked solutions to food insecurity, yet millions of people depend on fisheries for nutrition, jobs, and livelihoods. As marine ecosystems face growing threats from pollution, climate change, and overexploitation, experts are calling for urgent action to protect both ocean health and the communities that rely on it.

Dr Christina Hicks, a Professor at Lancaster University, Pew Marine Fellow, Oceana Board member, and speaker at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, is at the forefront of this conversation. Her work explores the connections between sustainable fisheries, food systems, conservation, and economic resilience.

In an interview, Dr Hicks explains why fish should play a central role in Africa's food future, discusses the challenges facing coastal communities, and outlines the investments and policy changes needed to build healthy, just, and resilient ocean economies.

Fish is often described as an overlooked solution to food insecurity in Africa. What makes fisheries such a critical yet underappreciated part of the continent's food systems?

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Fish are a hidden super food; they are rich in micronutrients - things our bodies need in tiny quantities but are often lacking in our diets. Micronutrients are essential for our physical and mental development, particularly in the first 1,000 days of life and for mothers who are pregnant or nursing.

Although we can get these micronutrients from other animal foods such as beef, chicken, and goat, fish is much cheaper, more easily transported – especially when dried, and has a far lower carbon footprint than these other animal proteins.

Fish is available along all our coastlines, in all our lakes, and rivers. We have caught and eaten fish for thousands of years, and we have been managing these fisheries for as long as we have been fishing them, through traditional and modern approaches.

But for far too long, we have overlooked the value of fish in our diets, the importance of sustainably managing our fisheries for local consumption, and what is lost when we open up our fisheries to new access agreements and export markets.

Your research highlights the importance of local and territorial markets. How do these markets help make fish more affordable and improve access to nutrition for communities?

Certain types of fish are landed periodically and in large quantities, for example, because they are schooling or seasonal (think of Omena in East Africa, Kordonnyen in Seychelles, or Yaboi in West Africa). Often, to avoid wastage, women dry these fish in the sun, and they are distributed on the back of lorries, through informal markets and networks, across the continent, including to places far from bodies of water.

The cost of these fish, their drying methods, and transportation (as they do not need to be refrigerated) is cheap, making them accessible, especially to low-income consumers. Indeed, across Africa, fish are most often consumed dried, and particularly by low-income households.

"Pollution is a problem all over the world, and Africa is not immune."

Marine pollution is increasingly affecting coastal ecosystems. What are the most significant impacts you are seeing on fisheries, livelihoods, and coastal communities?

Pollution is a problem all over the world, and Africa is not immune - from plastics capable of crossing ocean basins to run-off from urbanisation, agriculture, and a growing tourism industry. Although we have restrictions and regulations, we are not monitoring and enforcing these sectors. The result is adverse impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems and human health. For example, in West Africa, several factories adjacent to residential areas have been called out for discharging waste directly into the ocean and releasing pollution into the air. In these areas and along these coastlines, we are seeing the first reported incidents of toxic algal blooms associated with skin lesions and increased reports of respiratory illness amongst children and the elderly.

What would a truly healthy, just, and resilient food system in Africa look like, particularly when it comes to integrating fisheries and coastal resources?

A healthy food system, including in Africa, is one in which everyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, or any other social characteristics, can access a healthy diet. There are many definitions of what a healthy diet constitutes, but they broadly align. They require us to eat fruit, lots of vegetables and whole grains. Although our traditional African whole grains (e.g. Sorghum, Millet, or Teff) are healthy and nutritious, the most commonly consumed grains, which are imported, like white rice, wheat, or maize, are processed and have been stripped of their nutrition (often to increase their shelf life). So, we should be consuming more of our whole grains. A healthy diet also needs sufficient micronutrients, which is where fish comes in. In Africa, the quickest way to get this is through animal source proteins (

There is no common definition of justice; it means different things to different people, including experts and theorists. One nearly universally accepted definition of what constitutes a minimal acceptable level for justice is Human Rights. If we lean into this definition, then a Just food system would protect the right to food for everyone, the right to decent work, the right to a healthy environment, and people's civil and political freedoms. This would mean that healthy foods are available, in the right places, in sufficient quantities, at affordable levels, and in an environment conducive to making healthy choices. That is, an environment free of excessive advertising for - and quantities of - unhealthy foods. It would also mean that fishers and food system workers are afforded a living wage, so they can afford a healthy diet and live in dignity, and they are afforded protections, so they can negotiate for better pay and conditions. It would also mean our fisheries are sustainable, our climate is safe, and our environments are non-toxic and free from pollutants.

Finally, for our food system to be resilient, all of this needs to happen in a way that regenerates rather than degrades our ecosystems and does not push us beyond safe planetary boundaries.

If this sounds like a tall order, perhaps we should ask why affording all our citizens their basic human rights feels so far out of reach?

Coral reefs are critical nursery habitats for many fish species. How are declining coral reef ecosystems affecting fisheries productivity and coastal economies in Africa, and what solutions are most urgent?

Coral reefs are not actually nursery habitats for many fisheries (e.g. pelagic fisheries). Rather, seagrass beds and mangrove forests can be important nursery habitats for coral reef fish species, and coral reefs support important fisheries in their own right. Reef degradation is causing the types of fish species that dominate these ecosystems to change. While some fisheries species decline, others (e.g. rabbitfish and other algal-feeding fish) can increase. This may necessitate fishers to adapt how and where they fish to maintain catches and incomes. Management agencies need to pay attention to these changing compositions to ensure fisheries are sustainable and catches are maintained over long timeframes.

"Small-scale fishers and coastal communities have a right to know what is going on in the waters they traditionally fish."

Governance and transparency in fisheries are often overlooked issues. Why do they matter so much for both food security and economic development?

Small-scale fishers and coastal communities have a right to know what is going on in the waters they traditionally fish and what is affecting the health of the fish stocks and oceans they rely on. They should also have a say in the decisions that affect them. But without good governance practices, including stakeholder consultation, inclusive decision-making processes, and transparency in data and decision-making, these fishers and coastal communities are left in the dark and without a voice. This allows governments and foreign-owned companies to make decisions based solely on short-term profits - things like coastal development projects that threaten fish nursery habitats or fish access agreements for foreign-owned trawlers to exploit resources that local fishers rely on - rather than basing decisions on the long-term health, cultural, and livelihood needs of coastal communities.

You have also studied the role of women in fisheries value chains. What are some of the opportunities and barriers facing women entrepreneurs in this sector?

Fisheries value chains are often structured through gendered divisions of labour. In many coastal communities, men dominate the more profitable segments of the value chain (e.g. fishing, boat ownership, wholesale trade, and access to larger markets), while women are expected to operate in lower-status or smaller-scale trading activities.

Cultural norms can therefore limit women's access to high-value products, capital, and commercial networks.

Governance structures in the fisheries sector are also largely male-dominated, though there are notable efforts in some areas to change this. Since participation in governance can provide access to information, networks, licences, and economic opportunities, women's underrepresentation may reduce their ability to influence decisions and benefit from the sector.

Women are often expected to fulfil roles as wives, mothers, and primary caregivers. These responsibilities can constrain the time available for business activities, travel, networking, and participation in governance processes, limiting opportunities for enterprise growth.

However, opportunities do exist, for example, in profitable niche markets. Activities commonly associated with women, such as the trade and processing of small fish species, should not automatically be viewed as marginal. In some contexts, these markets can be highly profitable and provide reliable income streams.

Growing demand for affordable and nutritious fish products may further strengthen these opportunities.

Women's social roles often provide access to dense networks of kinship, reciprocity, and trust. These networks can facilitate access to customers, credit, labour, market information, and collective action, creating important business advantages. But these initiatives must ensure agency is not taken away from women, that customary practices are not eroded, and that these networks are not commodified.

Your research challenges some common assumptions about poverty and biodiversity. What are the key misconceptions, and how should they change the way we think about conserving marine ecosystems while supporting livelihoods?

Often, conservation policy is premised on the assumption that poverty drives biodiversity loss. But our research has shown us that there are drivers that originate beyond where biodiversity loss occurs, and conservation efforts are focused that this framing fails to address. An example when it comes to fisheries is in West Africa, where global markets and foreign fleets, both of which are highly complex and opaque, drive much of the fishing pressure. Addressing these pressures will, in turn, make managing local fisheries easier, and the full benefits of effective management can be felt.

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So, while local conservation efforts are needed, and in many cases, it is important to address poverty alleviation, without addressing the broader drivers of biodiversity decline, we will be fighting a losing battle whilst marginalising those most dependent on biodiversity and vulnerable to losses.

What investments are most urgently needed to strengthen sustainable fisheries and coastal communities in the face of climate change?

Healthy oceans and healthy fisheries are more resilient to the effects of climate change. Reducing overfishing and rebuilding fish stocks, while managing for changes in productivity and distribution due to climate change, will help ensure that fisheries remain viable. Countries must also invest in sharing their data and collaborating on management since many fish species migrate and are changing their distribution as a result of climate change. Protecting coastal habitats such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs are also essential for strengthening resilience to climate change. But protecting doesn't mean closing off - it means managing these areas in concert with coastal communities.

Across the continent, healthy oceans are inseparable from food security, public health, and economic stability.

As Africa prepares to host the Our Ocean Conference for the first time, what opportunities does this present for the continent in terms of leadership on oceans, climate, and sustainable fisheries?

The Our Ocean conference is one of the largest gatherings of ocean leaders from around the world who come together to deliver concrete and actionable commitments to help protect and restore the world's oceans. As the first Our Ocean Conference held on African soil, this year's event will place a global spotlight on ocean action and leadership across Africa and highlight the unique coastal communities, biodiversity, and ecosystems of Kenya and East Africa. Oceana is calling on governments to strengthen protections for critical marine habitats, increase transparency and accountability in global fisheries, and ensure small-scale fishers and coastal communities are at the centre of ocean decision-making.

Across the continent, healthy oceans are inseparable from food security, public health, and economic stability. Fish are among the most important sources of nutrition across Africa, providing more than half of all animal protein consumed in some countries. Research shows that small-scale fisheries in Africa provide critical nutrients that could help more than 137 million women meet 20% of their recommended intake for calcium, zinc, omega-three fatty acids, and selenium.

African nations can be champions of inclusive fisheries and ocean governance and demonstrate that preserving biodiversity, supporting livelihoods, and enhancing nutrition are all possible when we work together.