WorldFish organized the first out of four series of Think Tank on 6th April 2020. Hosted by Phillipa Cohen, WorldFish Research Program Leader, Resilient Small-scale Fisheries, the participant of this virtual preparatory meeting include those from the established FISH CRP partnerships that have already made substantial contributions to “Fish in Regional Food Systems Research” research cluster of Flagship 2 on Small-scale Fisheries, as well as relevant research from Flagship on Sustainable Aquaculture.  

Background: Through the WorldFish Strategy and the Research Program on Fish-Agri Food Systems, WorldFish and partners have made a commitment to improve nutrition, reduce poverty and improve resource management in the fisheries of Africa and enhanced by strategic growth of aquaculture.  The contexts in which there is most to gain from research for development are in the Great Lakes of Africa and in the Small Islands Developing States.  Until now our research investments have been relatively opportunistic albeit focused on a selection of countries.  With strong partnership foundations and an emerging body of research we are in a position to now review evidence and produce a more sharply focused research agenda, with a high likelihood if nutrition, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability returns. 

This mini-symposia or virtual think tank provided an opportunity to share and discuss our research that has emerged particularly in the last 18 months, and to ‘take stock’ of where we are at, what our research is telling us, and where and how we are likely to achieve this impact most effectively and efficiently.  The 2020 commencement of new PhD students, post-docs and scientists make this a timely, necessary and likely very productive meeting.

Objectives:

  1. ​Develop a multi-partner action plan for research for development – including 10-year horizon targets 2 years, and 10-year research strategy
  2. Identify pathways to influence policy and investment towards insights generated in fish and food systems research to date
  3. Develop a multi-partner policy brief capturing all research findings and future research areas identified in Think Tank.

Outputs and Outcomes:

  1. Introduction of new team members into a growing network of committed FISH researchers
  2. An updated repository of FISH research and resources on Teams
  3. A shared understanding of current and emerging data sets and research outputs
  4. Increased potential for collaboration and synergies across the group
  5. Preparation for a face to face meeting in July – including gathering joint input into agenda and objectives, and plans for preparatory papers
  6. Improved articulation, through questions and ToC preparation, of pathways for research to have an impact