UN promote aquaculture to relieve increased pressure on drylands
Canada: A 4-year study calls for urgent reforms to avert further desertification threatening 'poorest of the poor' worldwide. This is the conclusion in a report released this week from the United Nations University, hosted by MacMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
"Arid aquaculture" using ponds filled with salty, undrinkable water for fish production is one of several options experts have proven to be an effective potential alternative livelihood for people living in desertified parts of the world's expanding drylands.
In a report released today, researchers with the United Nations University, the International Centre on Agricultural Research in Dryland Areas (ICARDA), and UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program say alternatives to traditional crop farming and livestock rearing will need to be put in place in drylands in order to mitigate human causes of desertification.
While it may sound far-fetched, researchers say using briny water to establish aquaculture in a dry, degraded part of Pakistan not only introduced a new source of income, it helped improve nutrition through diet diversification. The researchers also showed it possible to cultivate some varieties of vegetables with the same type of brackish water.
Because they do not primarily depend on land productivity, these and other options have the potential to reduce the pressure on the fragile resource base in marginal drylands, says the report. "At the same time, these strategies proved to yield significantly higher income per investment than traditional land-based livelihoods."
The report, "People in Marginal Drylands: Managing Natural Resources to Improve Human Well-being," summarizes the Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) project, funded largely by the Flemish Government of Belgium.
UNU's International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) was created in 1996 to strengthen water management capacity, particularly of developing countries, and to provide on-the-ground project support. With core funding provided by the Government of Canada, it is hosted by McMaster University, Canada.
