Sustainable Aquatic Foods, Environment and Livelihoods (SAFEL)

project summary

Sustainable Aquatic Foods, Environment and Livelihood (SAFEL), is a collaborative research project that seeks a holistic examination of heavy metal and pesticide contamination in the two major river systems in Ghana, from impact on aquatic ecosystems and their resident organisms, to the health risks associated with their consumption, and how this impacts livelihoods and human health. The traditional approach to heavy metal and pesticide investigations has been fragmented in nature and often yields research information that does not translate into policy or changes in practice of benefit to local communities. The SAFEL consortium seeks to collaborate and take advantage of the different expertise in the project consortium in order to answer the question - how does heavy metal contamination in the Pra River and pesticide contamination in the Volta River affect the aquatic organisms and the humans that depend on them for food and livelihoods? A critical aspect of this research seeks to understand the changes in physiology and behaviour that occur at the organism level from pollution and climatic and anthropogenic change and how such changes may occur at the population level through impacts on their reproductive success. The project seeks to identify early warning cues, identify hotspots of contamination and the seasonal effects, identify communities at risk along the two major river systems and develop fish advisories that are easily accessible and adoptable by the communities. Central to this research is the intent to build an inter-disciplinary consortium and develop a national capacity in this area of research that would spur an increased research effort throughout the country and develop workable solutions. The consortium is made up of researchers and students from different but relevant areas of research, at different levels of career progression but with a united goal to safeguard aquatic environments that can support healthy organisms and produce aquatic foods that are safe for human consumption and can support livelihoods of the communities that depend on them.