PH engages in regional initiative to ramp up aquaculture production

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines, along with five other countries in the Asia-Pacific, will be engaging in a regional initiative to ramp up aquaculture production to meet the demand of a growing global population.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is pushing for the so-called “blue growth,” the initiative is aimed at increasing fish output in an ecological and sustainable way.

The other countries that will take part in this initiative are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

Based on estimates by the United Nations, the world will be home to more than 9 billion people in 35 years, or by 2050.

“The work of these six countries in this regional initiative, and their outcomes, will be pivotal in finding ways to increase food production sustainably,” FAO assistant director general Hiroyuki Konuma said in a statement.

Konuma said that, based on FAO projections, the world would need to increase food production by an average of 60 percent globally to meet the expected growth in population. Among developing countries, food output must grow by 77 percent.

These would translate to an additional 30 million tons of fish needed to meet the rising demand in the global market.