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Food Security in Rural Cambodia and Fishing in the Mekong in the Light of Declining Fish Stocks
Author(s) -
Hartje Rebecca,
Bühler Dorothee,
Grote Ulrike
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
world food policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2372-8639
DOI - 10.18278/wfp.2.2.3.1.2
Subject(s) - fishing , livelihood , food security , subsistence agriculture , fish stock , fishery , stock (firearms) , proxy (statistics) , business , population , geography , socioeconomics , natural resource economics , economics , agriculture , environmental health , biology , computer science , medicine , archaeology , machine learning
Fishing in the Mekong River is of utmost importance for rural livelihoods in parts of Cambodia. As a result of ecosystem changes, fish stocks are expected to decline. Using data on 600 rural households collected in two waves in 2013 and 2014 in the province of Stung Treng, we assess the current situation of food security in relation to fishing. To proxy food security, we consider energy and protein intakes as well as Food Security Indexes. Quantitative results show that fishing households had a more nutritious diet in the past week, are more engaged in subsistence activities and had lower additional food expenditure. Furthermore, fishing is effective in reducing seasonal food insecurity for households in the lowest income quartile. In the light of declining fish stocks these findings underscore the need for fishing households to adjust their income earning activities to the expected changes. We call for policymakers to account for the most fish‐dependent groups of the population when designing or adjusting development policies for the area that could potentially affect fish stocks.