An alarming 735 million people around the world are facing hunger, 122 million more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, over 3.1 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet today and projections indicate that 600 million people will remain chronically undernourished in 2030. During both the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) and again at the 2023 UNFSS Stocktaking Moment, UN Member States recognized the multifaceted nature of food insecurity, and the need to address both supply chains and communities involved in all food production sectors through agrifood systems transformation.
Aquatic foods – with their low environmental footprint, great diversity and capacity to supply critical nutrients to sustain healthy diets – are one of the seven priorities for ending hunger (Von Braun et al., 2021). In 2021, FAO launched its Blue Transformation vision (FAO, 2022a), aimed at maximizing the opportunities presented by aquatic food systems to enhance food security, improve nutrition, eradicate poverty, and support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Blue Transformation is a targeted effort by which all stakeholders use existing and emerging knowledge, tools and practices to secure and sustainably maximize the contribution of aquatic food systems to food security, nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all. Blue Transformation proposes concrete actions and quantifiable targets to measure over time how aquatic food systems enhance their catalytic role to combat hunger and malnutrition, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda.
Increasing sustainable production alone does not necessarily lead to lower hunger rates, which is why Blue Transformation takes a systemic approach that builds sustainable, resilient, gender-responsive and inclusive fisheries and aquaculture at the local, regional and global levels, while ensuring that aquatic food systems are resilient to climate change and other natural and human-made disasters.
To clarify the concept and to offer guidance to its Members and partners, FAO developed the Blue Transformation Roadmapaf around three global objectives that reflect FAO’s vision for what aquatic food systems transformation must achieve by 2030 and beyond, aligning its policies and priority actions accordingly (Figure 56). These three objectives are:
- sustainable aquaculture expansion and intensification that meet the global demand for aquatic foods while ensuring equitable distribution of benefits;
- effective management of all fisheries, ensuring healthy stocks and equitable livelihoods; and
- upgraded aquatic value chains that guarantee the social, economic and environmental sustainability of aquatic food systems.
FIGURE 56OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS OF BLUE TRANSFORMATION
For each global objective, the roadmap outlines a set of targets that reflect the social, economic and environmental aspects to address to transform aquatic food systems. To reach these global objectives and targets, FAO promotes collaborative efforts and initiatives involving its Members, international and regional organizations, the private sector, civil society, academia, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other actors of aquatic food systems. The roadmap identifies priority action areas aligned with the FAO mandate, Strategic Framework 2022–2031 and corporate strategies that highlight where FAO can effectively contribute its expertise and comparative advantages.
To accelerate transformation, FAO is focused on global and regional policy processes and their local implementation, including the establishment of normative frameworks that reflect best practices for data collection, analysis and monitoring. This entails a focus on policies and programmes that support science-based integrated management of aquatic food systems, promote technological innovations, and advocate for stakeholder-focused outcomes, all critical in the transformation of aquatic food systems. Capacity building is an essential component of Blue Transformation, ensuring that institutions and stakeholders can develop, utilize and apply the latest data, science, technology and processes to implement best practices, particularly through knowledge-sharing networks, South–South Cooperation, and direct support to Members.
Highlighting priority action areas, innovations and results
Blue Transformation in action highlights how FAO is catalysing change to support each objective of the Blue Transformation Roadmap.
Sustainable aquaculture in action focuses on global normative frameworks, innovation and technology to support sustainable aquaculture intensification and expansion to meet the growing demand for aquatic foods. These actions include the development of the global Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA), a negotiated document that will guide the sector into the future. The section also highlights innovations to improve aquaculture systems, aquafeeds, aquatic genetic resources and biosecurity for healthier, more efficient and safer production. These actions are led by FAO in collaboration with a global network of practitioners, experts, researchers and private enterprises aiming to achieve 35 percent growth in global sustainable aquaculture production by 2030.
Improving fisheries sustainability presents recent successes in effective management of global fisheries to achieve healthier fishery stocks and equitable livelihoods. The section covers progress in global governance frameworks such as the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) and the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). It also focuses on the growing role of regional fishery bodies (RFBs) that must adjust their mandates and activities to embrace new agreements such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). The section also describes a key FAO-led initiative that implements a science-based approach to assess the status of fishery resources and better support fisheries management, and promotes the latest technological innovations to support responsible fishing practices.
Innovations in sustainable trade and value chains covers priority actions undertaken to upgrade aquatic food value chains and guarantee their social, economic and environmental sustainability. This includes FAO’s actions to support Members so they can comply with trade agreements and market access requirements. The section also focuses on innovative and technologically inclusive approaches to traceability and certification, and the reduction of fish loss and waste. It highlights FAO’s efforts to develop guidance on social sustainability in fish value chains – an urgently needed instrument to address issues of gender equality, decent work and occupational safety in aquatic food systems. Finally, the section deals with consumer awareness, and the overall goal of fully integrating aquatic foods in national and global food security and nutrition strategies.
FAO’s Blue Transformation vision represents a shift in the Organization’s approach to integrating aquatic foodsinto global food security and sustainability. By establishing clear objectives and enhancing policy advocacy, scientific research, capacity building, promotion of sustainable practices, innovation, and community involvement, FAO aims to charter a sustainable future for the world’s aquatic food systems. Blue Transformation in action provides examples of how FAO and its partners address and deliver on these needs.
