World Food Policy
I. Introduction
tion approaches oriented to enhance
social–ecological resilience.
F
reshwater aquaculture is an im-
portant component of the supply
of animal-based protein, amino
acids, fatty acids, minerals, and vita-
mins in the diets of predominantly
poor populations in the developing
countries of South East Asia (Dey &
Ahmed, 2005; Dey et al., 2005; Mish-
ra & Ray, 2009; Prein & Ahmed, 2000;
Tacon, 1997). Belton and Little (2011)
predicted that the aquaculture produc-
tion systems would become more in-
tensive and uniform and output will,
on the one hand, satisfy the growing
demand of mass markets for safe ani-
mal-source products but, on the oth-
er, is unlikely to meet the strong cul-
tural attachment to the diverse and
local that is still prevalent in rapidly
growing areas of Asia, where the cul-
tural value was characterized as tra-
ditional and often “wild” foods. This
resilience of food cultures would be
possible to anticipate the continued
existence of considerable market de-
mand for small-scale producers. The
rapid growth and widespread develop-
ment of aquaculture have been occur-
ring at a critical time in human history,
especially increasing unpredictability
associated with climate change and
greater volatility in food prices and
food security would be a reality. Cli-
mate change would be expected to
bring particularly severe impacts to
the densely residential deltas of Asia
where small-scale aquaculture is most
prevalent and where, if maintained or
further developed, it might be respon-
sible for an important role in adapta-
In Vietnam, freshwater fish
contributes to 12.4% of the 29 g capi-
ta −1 day −1 animal-based protein supply
(FAO, 2013), of which 37% is supplied
by the cyprinid and cichlid species and
mainly produced through aquaculture
(FAO, 2011). It has been widely recog-
nized that farm product diversification
through aquaculture can contribute to a
sustainable method of developing food
security, alleviating poverty (Edwards,
2000; Prein & Ahmed, 2000; Tacon,
1997), and also may increase resilience
to financial shocks in developing coun-
tries such as Vietnam. Promoting the
aquaculture separate from, or integrat-
ed within, broader livelihoods therefore
becomes a crucial policy issue. Aqua-
culture has, in some cases, been inher-
ent in national poverty reduction strat-
egy plans or has become a key part of
macro-economic growth. The renewed
approach in which various types of
aquaculture can contribute to poverty
alleviation at household, community,
and national levels is critical (Little et
al., 2010). Although aquaculture farm-
ing has greatly improved in the past
decades, few studies have focused on
the entire range of benefits within the
existing systems of freshwater aquacul-
ture production in the Red River Delta
region.
In diverse and highly populated
regions in Asia like China and north-
ern Vietnam have a long and acknowl-
edged history of freshwater aquaculture
production systems (Edwards, 1993;
Luu, 2001; Ruddle & Zhong, 1988),
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