Page 59 - U4SSC Simple ways to be smart

Case 9: Aquaponics for food security

The problem

Communities living in regions of the world where land is expensive, water is scarce, and soil is
poor, particularly those in arid or semi-arid areas and small island developing states, depend to
a great extent on the import of food and many products to satisfy their nutritional requirements.
In some of the Caribbean SIDS, nearly 80 percent of the food consumed is imported. This high
dependency on food imports leaves many SIDS extremely vulnerable to things like commodity
shortages, transportation disruptions, and exchange rate fluctuations, among others.

Moreover, in parts of the world with very high urbanization rates, many natural resources, including
soil and freshwater, are already overexploited. Countries are faced with resources limitations
including a decrease in arable land, constrained freshwater supplies, soil degradation and soil
nutrient depletion. These conditions present similar threats to food security. Even where countries
have sufficient food, there are concerns about the quality of the food with many consuming diets
that are energy-dense, but lacking in micronutrients, leading to obesity and diet-related chronic
diseases.

In cities, hunger exacerbates many other social problems and this has been particularly highlighted
during the COVID19 crisis that has impacted food availability in many cities. Cities are thus taking
an increasing interest in food security and are formulating strategies to ensure adequate supplies
of nutritious food. 97

The solution

Aquaponics, a method of growing agricultural crops without the use of soil, provides a sustainable
alternative to conventional farming and food production. It is a practice based on natural ecosystems
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that does not deplete non-renewable resources and appears to be a promising sustainable food
production method.
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Aquaponics combines two well-established practices: recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and
hydroponics. Recirculating aquaculture systems use biofiltration to clean the water in fish farming
where fresh water is limited. They reduce the need for fresh, clean water while still maintaining
a healthy environment for fish. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, using a
liquid nutrient solution. Hydroponics is used for growing plant crops, particularly vegetables, using
a fraction of the water that would normally be used. Aquaponics combines these two practices to
both farm fish and grow vegetables, with the plants filtering the water and the fish fertilizing the
plants.

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