New Study Calls for Greater Role of Water and Aquatic Foods in Agroecology Principles

While agroecology has long been promoted as a holistic approach to food system sustainability, the study reveals that key resources — such as water and aquatic foods — remain largely absent in both high-level discourse and investments.

Researchers reviewed the 13 agroecological principles proposed by the UN High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), endorsed by the Committee On World Food Security (CFS), alongside academic literature and widely used monitoring frameworks. They found that these principles and the literature rarely reference water or aquatic foods, and that four key frameworks used in agroecology evaluations mostly focus on land-based systems, missing critical aquatic dimensions. An open electronic consultation to obtain inputs on the proposed changes to the 13 HLPE principles was conducted in 2023. The results feed into the study.