"400 Miles From Darwin": Coastal Fisheries and Food Security in Post-Conflict Timor-Leste

Apr 23, 2015 | ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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Chronic food insecurity persists in Timor-Leste, illustrated brutally by a childhood stunting (growth limited by inadequate nutrition) rate of 58% – amongst the worst in the world. If managed well, fisheries have a critical role to play in improving food security and national food sovereignty. The protracted nature of the independence struggle and the ‘scorched earth’ policy of the departing Indonesian forces have left a disturbingly ‘clean slate’ in terms of fishing infrastructure, capacity and institutional memory. This seminar will review recent participatory research that scopes the nature of coastal livelihoods and fisheries in Timor-Leste. Complexities in vulnerability context, livelihood and food system structure provide challenges to rebuilding a thriving, just and sustainable sector.

Presented by: Dr. David Mills, WorldFish