Improving social sustainability in seafood supply chains
A BMZ funded project that aims to identify how social conditions in global food supply chains protect small-scale harvesters. Running with the support of GIZ, The project focuses on seafood chains connecting African producers with EU and German markets, where rising expectations around certification, traceability and corporate due diligence are changing the conditions under which seafood businesses can trade.
The challenge
Seafood supply chains support millions of livelihoods, but the benefits and risks are not distributed equally. Workers and producers may face poor labour conditions, weak rights protection, limited representation and an unequal share of the value created through international trade. Women, migrant workers and informal businesses can be particularly exposed, while pressure on coastal livelihoods and local food systems is increasing.
These issues are especially significant for small-scale fishers and aquaculture producers in Africa. Many operate through informal or locally embedded systems that are poorly represented in trade data, certification records and international reporting. They may have limited access to finance, technical support and the administrative capacity required to meet international market standards.
Certification, due-diligence frameworks and buyer requirements can improve transparency and establish stronger expectations for responsible practice. However, they can also transfer the costs and responsibilities of compliance to suppliers with the least power and fewest resources. In some cases, requirements intended to improve social sustainability may make it harder for small-scale producers to enter or remain in export markets, without addressing the commercial relationships and structural inequalities that create social risks in the first place.
Our work
The project establishes how social sustainability requirements operate across selected African tuna and shrimp supply chains supplying European markets. We examine the movement of seafood from production and processing through export, import and final sale, identifying the organisations involved, where decisions are made and how requirements and costs are passed between businesses.
The work assesses the main public and private systems intended to improve social conditions, including certification schemes, buyer standards, traceability requirements, due-diligence frameworks and multi-stakeholder initiatives. The focus is not only on what these systems require on paper, but on whether they lead to better conditions and whether workers and smaller producers can participate in and benefit from them.
African case studies provide a closer view of how these systems work in practice. They will consider the role of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, the practical requirements for reaching EU and German markets, and the effects of compliance on costs, organisation, employment and local production. The work will also compare the expectations of European buyers and institutions with the realities faced by producers and workers in the countries supplying them.
The project identifies where development cooperation can intervene most effectively. This may include strengthening producer organisations and local institutions, improving access to appropriate finance, supporting group-based approaches to certification, building local capacity and encouraging fairer buyer–supplier relationships.
It also considers how market requirements can recognise informal and locally established governance systems rather than automatically excluding them. This is important where small-scale seafood production supports domestic markets and local food security as well as export trade.
Expected impact
The project will help ensure that efforts to improve social sustainability result in practical benefits for the people working within seafood supply chains. Its findings will support development programmes that respond to the realities of African producers rather than applying requirements designed solely around European market expectations.
The intended result is a more inclusive approach to responsible seafood trade: one that improves accountability and working conditions while enabling small-scale fishers and aquaculture producers to participate on fairer terms. By linking social protection with market access, local livelihoods and food security, the project will help development organisations address the wider conditions that determine who benefits from global seafood supply chains.