FISH4ACP: How Aquatic Value Chains Are Shaping a Resilient Global Food Future

The FAO and Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management highlight how developing sustainable aquatic food value chains can drive global food systems transformation by boosting economic, social, and environmental resilience. Through the FISH4ACP programme, participatory and evidence-based approaches are creating lasting impacts across twelve countries.

In a world urgently seeking more sustainable and resilient food production systems, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Limited have partnered to deliver a crucial exploration into the role of aquatic food value chains. Authored by Graeme Macfadyen for the Blue Food Forum under the FISH4ACP programme, this paper positions value chain analysis not simply as a business tool but as a fundamental strategy for driving economic, social, and environmental transformation. Building on a rich mix of academic research, programme documentation, staff consultations, and practical field insights, the report reframes fisheries and aquaculture value chains as powerful engines of sustainable development. These interconnected webs of production, processing, and trade, stretching from small fish farms to international markets, are pivotal to influencing livelihoods, food security, and global trade, which hit USD 195 billion in aquatic products in 2022 alone.

Redefining Value Chain Development and Food Systems Transformation

The report draws a clear distinction, but also identifies critical synergies between value chain development and broader food systems transformation. Value chain analysis, it explains, has evolved to become a holistic tool, integrating not just economic performance but also social inclusivity, environmental stewardship, and system resilience. Food systems transformation, by contrast, takes an even broader approach, one that considers cross-sectoral drivers and feedback loops impacting food security, nutrition, and environmental outcomes. Yet, both approaches converge around a common aim: improving sustainability across economic, environmental, and social pillars. The FISH4ACP methodology emerges as a practical bridge between these worlds, field-tested across twelve countries and rooted in participatory stakeholder engagement, deep evidence-based diagnostics, and adaptive long-term planning. It brings the FAO’s sustainable food value chain framework and the European Union’s VCA4D model into the aquatic food sector, translating theory into action.

How FISH4ACP Methodology Works on the Ground

The FISH4ACP approach unfolds in two main phases: a comprehensive analysis and design stage, followed by an implementation stage. The analytical phase involves mapping the flow of aquatic products and actor behaviors, identifying hotspots in sustainability and resilience through detailed heatmaps, and developing a stakeholder-driven upgrading strategy. The methodology strongly emphasizes the formation of multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs), ensuring broad participation across government, private sector, and local communities. These platforms are designed to persist beyond project lifespans, fostering local ownership and adaptive management of the value chains. The upgrading strategies, spanning typically 10 years, blend specific investments, business model improvements, and governance reforms, always aimed at addressing economic bottlenecks, environmental degradation, and social exclusion. Implementation plans translate these strategies into actionable activities, ensuring that marginalized groups, especially women and youth, derive concrete benefits.

Transformative Impacts Across Continents

Evidence of the approach’s success is already emerging from FISH4ACP-supported countries. In Côte d'Ivoire, improvements in farmed Nile tilapia production have created new jobs, boosted incomes, and built better institutional coherence. In Nigeria, a focus on catfish farming has uncovered the sector’s true economic potential while professionalizing farming operations. In the Marshall Islands, a shift from tuna transshipment to containerization is delivering more economic value onshore while improving labor conditions and gender equity. Across Senegal, the Gambia, and Sao Tome and Principe, small-scale oyster farming has been transformed through better management practices, food safety monitoring, and modern aquaculture techniques. Collectively, the programme expects to facilitate over 6,000 new jobs, USD 70 million in increased direct value added, and substantial environmental benefits such as improved fish stock status and expanded renewable energy use. The report also notes a significant ripple effect: interventions are impacting other sectors, like agriculture, feed manufacturing, and cold storage services, strengthening the entire food systems landscape in participating countries.

Lessons, Challenges, and the Road Ahead

Despite these impressive gains, the report is frank about the challenges encountered. The FISH4ACP methodology’s strengths, its participatory nature, systemic breadth, and strong evidence base, can also be its limitations, especially where data availability is poor and resources are stretched. Long-term upgrading strategies risk becoming outdated without regular refreshment, and attracting private sector co-financing remains a hurdle. Regional-level factors, such as transboundary fish stock management, are difficult to address through national-level strategies alone. Building and sustaining multi-stakeholder platforms takes considerable time, effort, and sensitive handling of local dynamics, especially to ensure genuine inclusion of marginalized groups. Gender-related challenges also emerge, requiring culturally sensitive approaches to empower women without triggering local backlash. Yet, these hurdles do not overshadow the overwhelming positive conclusion: that carefully designed, participatory, and adaptable value chain development is not only a feasible pathway to food systems transformation, but a necessary one. The FISH4ACP experience shows that even modest improvements, when rooted in local ownership and cross-sectoral thinking, can spark systemic change. As global efforts to transform food systems accelerate, the lessons from fisheries and aquaculture value chains offer both inspiration and a practical blueprint for achieving a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future.