Page 1 of 3 A Note on the Need to Expand Fish Food Security in Africa ISSN: 2644-2981 DOI: 10.33552/GJNFS.2023.04.000593 Global Journal of Nutrition & Food Science Short Communication Copyright © All rights are reserved by Fernandes T Received Date: December 13, 2023 Published Date: December 19, 2023 This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License GJNFS.MS.ID.000593. *Corresponding author: Fernandes T, CIISA, Faculty Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal Former Director CEIL, Lúrio University, Nampula, Mozambique, Portugal Introduction Presently, the world is affronted by overwhelming association of catastrophes: the post pandemic long-term effects, the ongoing climate changes impacts, and the armed conflicts and violence, which affect millions around the globe. The scores of multiple social risks are worsening and, in most places, progress has been too slow, and is further threatened by the health, economic, and environ- mental crisis. Natural disasters, large-scale uncontrolled migration, severe instability among some countries, decay of social cohesion, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, severe mental health deg- radation, collapse of supply chains, are just among several global risks, but on top of all these we rate primarily the rising cost-of-liv- ing and food and clean water availability to be the most dramatic, at least in Africa [1]. Africa is struggling with development challenges, particularly chronic food insecurity and widespread poverty. Actu- ally, some 300 million people in the continent experience chron- ic hunger leading to malnutrition and associated potential health risks. If African diets are basically reasonable covered on energy requirements with staple foods rich in soluble carbohydrates, the protein fraction relies on multiple local bean sources since meat, eggs, fish, and seafood are of more difficult access and expensive for the average indigenous. Fish has been the world’s single-most trade value food commodity followed by soybean, wheat and coffee, while for FAO fish is the second most traded food commodity in the world after the collection of all cereals [2]. While few heads of cattle, goats, pigs, and poultry are frequent- ly used by family farmers in Africa, and raised either to sell in local markets or consumption in festive days, a possible good supplier of high quality protein may be through aquaculture production of the African catfishes Clarias gariepinus and Heterobranchus longifilis. In Sub-Saharan Africa these two species are the most widely distrib- uted fish in Africa and have been produced for a long time; they can be differentiated by the lighter colour and a belly off-white and dark olive brown dorsal of the H. longifilis. These are types of freshwa- ter demersal or ground fish, air breathing catfish, sharp tooth scale less mudcat, the most widely distributed in Africa, that exists in the wild but it is also cultivated in ponds, cages, and pens and is of great commercial importance (Figures 1,2). These omnivorous fish with a preference for a planktonic diet, may weigh up to 60 kg and grow to a length of 1.5-1.7m [3]. Being able to survive in shallow mud for very long periods of time, between rainy seasons, this air-breathing catfish with a scale less, bony elongated body, it feeds, relying on vibrations and smells in search of food, on other types of food items such as insects, insect larvae, pupae, fish, detritus, and fish remains [4]. Guina J 1 , Bell V 2 and Fernandes T 3 * 1 ISEUNA, Polytechnic University, N13, Nampula, Mozambique 2 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal 3 CIISA, Faculty Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal Former Director CEIL, Lúrio University, Nampula, Mozambique