Building Peace in Troubled Waters: Human Rights for Nutrition-Sensitive Governance (NSG) in the Western Indian Ocean

In this chapter we spotlight the urgency of a nutrition-sensitive approach to the governance of coastal resources, particularly fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean region (WIO). We argue that a nutrition-sensitive approach to governance of fisheries necessitates breaking out of the medical field, to which nutrition is often relegated, and expanding the breadth of analysis to compelling questions that are on the current agenda for governance of oceans in the WIO region. These are broad questions that have to do with peace, security, and terrorism in the region, and they often go hand in hand with questions around economic development. Here we argue that peace studies and a peace-based approach to fisheries governance are useful if supportive of a shift from maritime security and economic development to a focus on human rights and human-centred development rooted in a fair access to good and nourishing food (i.e. fish) for all. We propose a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to fisheries governance grounded in three fundamental fisheries-related rights: (1) the right to food, (2) the right to fish, and (3) the right to a clean and healthy environment.