Bio:

Abdullah-Al Mamun received his PhD in Aquaculture from the University of Stirling in the UK in 2017. His research experience to date has focused on fish nutrition, coastal aquaculture system, food security, environmental sustainability and livelihoods. Prior to his PhD, he also received a MSc in Fisheries Biology and Genetics from Bangladesh Agricultural University.

Project summary:

Aquaculture has emerged as one of the fastest growing food production sectors globally. It has become particularly important in poorer countries where fish is culturally preferred such as Bangladesh where aquaculture has now overtaken fisheries as the major source of supply. This has supported fish to remain the animal source food of choice and for consumption to be maintained at 18.1 kg/capita/year, accounting for more than 60% of animal protein. However, the implications of changing climate, shifts in seasonal patterns of rainfall, and salinity on production, availability and affordability of fish, have not been well studied. A better understanding of how these factors might change for different climate change scenarios will support policy for the future. This study aims to develop scenarios for the current and projected contribution of aquaculture to the supply of key nutrients by 2030 in Bangladesh where both intensification of food systems and climatic changes along with population density are moving ahead quite rapidly but systems are narrowing species richness. The proposed work will build on the GENuS model and utilize FAO, IFPRI, BBS, IPCC datasets on fish, climate and population over the last 20 years including species composition. Projections for species contribution to fish supply will underpin scenarios to assess overall nutrient availability in the upcoming decade. A robust set of fish nutritional composition, based on edible yield, of the major aquatic animals from known production systems in Bangladesh are available from previous fieldwork. The top ten aquaculture fish species and 7 key nutrients will form the basis of simulations to predict the supply of these essential nutrients on peoples’ plates in 2030. The proposed model will help inform policy and practice regarding optimal strategies for climate change-resilient production geographies that maintain or enhance nutritional outcomes. It will support policy makers for foresight planning and empowering people to tackle the dual burden of climate and malnutrition. This will contribute to improved use of natural resources and the development of climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive aquatic food systems.

Briefing paper: 

Mamun is a collaborator on the IMMANA grant 'Aquatic Food for Health and Nutrition (AQN): A metric for assessing the impacts on nutrition and health of agroecosystems producing farmed seafood'