Social-Ecological Systems Analysis of Food Environments and Nutritional Outcomes in Fishing Communities of Coastal Bayelsa State

Coastal fishing communities in the Niger Delta region exist at the intersection of rich marine food resources and severe environmental degradation, creating a paradoxical food environment in which nutritional vulnerability and ecological disruption co-occur. This study applies a social-ecological systems framework to analyse food environments, dietary patterns, and nutritional outcomes in fishing communities of Southern Ijaw and Sagbama local government areas of Bayelsa State, South South Nigeria. A mixed-methods social-ecological study combined ecological and institutional analyses with household nutrition surveys and qualitative data collection. Phase 1 characterised the fishing community food environment through ecological surveys of fish species availability and catch composition over twelve months, retail food outlet mapping, and analysis of seasonal fish price data. Phase 2 conducted a cross-sectional household nutrition survey with 420 households, assessing dietary diversity, fish consumption frequency, household food security, and nutritional status of women and children under five using validated instruments. Serum omega-3 fatty acid and mercury biomarker analysis was performed on a sub-sample of 120 women and 60 children given the dual nutritional benefit and contamination risk of high fish consumption in polluted Niger Delta waters. Phase 3 conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with fishing households, local government officials, and environmental officers examining governance of the food environment and community nutritional resilience strategies. Ostrom's institutional analysis and development framework structured the institutional analysis. Findings will generate an original social-ecological systems understanding of the nutrition paradox in Niger Delta fishing communities. Keywords: social-ecological systems, food environments, fishing communities, Bayelsa State, Niger Delta nutrition.