Lecture on “Towards a climate-resilient aquatic food systems for shared prosperity”
by Dr. Essam Yassin Mohammed
Aquatic food systems are crucial for building healthy and resilient communities globally, providing essential nutrients and protein for vulnerable populations. Over one billion people depend on fish and other aquatic foods as their primary source of animal protein, while the industry supports millions of jobs and generates significant income. However, despite their potential to combat hunger and poverty, aquatic food systems are face multiple threats including over-exploitation, habitat degradation and ill effects of climate change. With the world’s population projected to reach over nine billion by 2050, sustainable and resilient aquatic food systems could provide a solution to the impending food crisis. Additionally, climate-resilient aquatic food systems offer a viable option for communities that rely heavily on fishing and aquaculture to adapt to changing conditions. By investing in innovative management strategies and infrastructure, aquatic foods could sustainably provide over six times more food than they do today. This presents a promising opportunity to create a low-carbon food system while supporting the livelihoods of millions of people, including women and young people, and promoting equitable and inclusive economic growth. The presentation will propose a pluralistic approach to developing a framework to understand, visualize, and measure prosperity, encompassing ecological, cultural, equity, food, and nutritional security dimensions. The presentation will emphasize the need for enhanced understanding of immanent and intentional prosperity pathways of aquatic food systems under climate change to aid investment and policy decisions by both private and public entities.
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Dr. Essam Yassin Mohammed is the WorldFish Director General and CGIAR Senior Director of Aquatic Foods roles. Prior to stepping up to the helm at WorldFish, he was the Global Lead for Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability. Hailing from Eritrea, Dr. Mohammed is WorldFish’s first Director General of African descent.
While he was with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), he was the Head of Blue Economy. In addition to his academic and professional experience as a fisheries scientist, he has worked in both governmental and non-governmental research institutes on a wide range of topics, such as the economic valuation of environmental goods and services and fiscal reforms to connectivity between high seas and territorial waters and the climate change and food security nexus; all with a strong focus on influencing policy processes to promote fair, inclusive and sustainable ocean-based economies at national and global levels.
Hailing from Eritrea, Essam has more than 19 years of international, multi-country experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, (South, South East and East) Asia, Latin America and Europe. He has advised many governments including (and not limited to) Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cambodia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Myanmar, Vietnam, Albania, Egypt and Lebanon.
He is a member of several advisory bodies including the Group of Experts for the second cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects of the United Nations.
