News: Oct 19, 2018
Demand for fish and shellfish is increasing globally. The largest increase in consumption will take place in Africa and Asia where a rapidly growing middle class is seen. One answer to the challenge is the development of ecological aquaculture, said Professor Barry Costa-Pierce of the University of New England at a webinar on marine bioeconomics in rural communities.
Future food supply is a global challenge where sustainable aquaculture can be one of the solutions, not least in rural areas. This is the message of SWEMARC, an interdisciplinary research center at the University of Gothenburg, which works to increase the cultivation of food from the sea in a sustainable way.
To increase cooperation and exchange with countries in southern Africa, SWEMARC invited partners from several African countries and disciplines to a workshop in mid-October. From Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth in South Africa, two guest researchers and a doctoral student participated. Dr. Bernadette Snow is the head of the interdisciplinary institute Coastal and Marine Research and Dr. Timothy Pittaway is a researcher at the Department of Agriculture. Asisipo Mhlonyane is a Ph.D. student who will study at the University of Gothenburg until the end of January and participate in the course Blue-Green Economy.
Dr. Pittaway told at the webinar how they work for the development of small-scale aquaculture in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Drought and climate change means that new cultivation systems need to be developed, but in order to make it necessary, an understanding of how people live and work together locally.
Maria Nyström, a researcher in design and architecture at the University of Gothenburg, told a cross-disciplinary project in Kenya about local development where design and marketing were combined with food and tourism.
In addition to the webinar, the invited guests participated in Tomorrow's Food and Travel conference at the Business School in Gothenburg. This week's program also featured several study visits, including Niklas Vennberg, an entrepreneur at Stadsjord's aquaponics project in the Slakthus area in Gothenburg, combining the cultivation of fish and vegetables in a closed system.
Originally published on: havochsamhalle.gu.se
