"Fish Rescue us from Hunger": the Contribution of Aquatic Resources to Household Food Security on the Rufiji River Floodplain, Tanzania, East Africa

Inland fisheries are essential to nutrition and food security in developing countries but remain undervalued. Worldwide, studies of aquatic resource consumption are rare. We use data from a monthly survey of 40 households in a Tanzanian village over 1 year combined with qualitative methods to analyse consumption of animal aquatic resources across wealth, seasons, fishing vs. non-fishing, and male- vs. female-headed households. We find that local freshwater fish are the most frequent source of animal protein, consumed on 57% of survey days. Wealth matters, with better-off households eating fish more often and in larger daily quantities on average. Middle-ranked households catch and sell fish more often, but all households double their consumption on average on days they catch rather than purchase fish. Female-headed households rely on gifts to increase consumption. Our results emphasise the need to preserve the livelihood functions of inland fisheries in the face of increasing threats.