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Water and aquatic foods in revised principles of agroecology can accelerate food systems transformation

Nature Food volume 6, pages 432–439 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

The interaction between climate change and agricultural intensification contributes to biodiversity loss, while widespread degradation of land and water undermine food system productivity. Agroecological principles aim to guide food systems transformation but rarely refer to water or aquatic foods, which are critical elements of nutritious, sustainable and equitable food systems. Here we examine the principles and frameworks presented in agroecological literature and suggest rephrasing of six of the principles to incorporate water, aquatic foods and land- to seascapes. We recommend three cross-sectoral actions that leverage aquatic features in agroecosystems to facilitate more effective transition pathways towards sustainable food systems.

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Fig. 1: Number of agroecological publications produced from 1990 to 2021 and their inclusion of key words for food systems, landscape, water, aquatic and fish.

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Change history

  • 18 April 2025

    In the version of this article initially published, the Acknowledgements did not include thanks from Edward Hugh Allison for funding from the Government of Canada’s International Climate Finance Initiative and the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada through the AQUADAPT program, as is now amended in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the participants in the e-consultation on incorporating water and aquatic foods in the 13 agroecological principles. This work has been supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) initiatives Transformational Agroecology Across Food, Land, and Water Systems and Resilient Aquatic Food Systems and the Multifunctional Landscapes Science Program. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. This research was conducted under the auspices of the Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology (TPP) that receives core funding from the European Union, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the McKnight Foundation, but responsibility for the content lies solely with the authors. E.H.A. received funding from the Government of Canada’s International Climate Finance Initiative and the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada through the AQUADAPT program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WorldFish, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

    Sarah Freed

  2. International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya

    Sarah Freed

  3. Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Michaela Guo Ying Lo

  4. International Water Management Institute, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka

    Matthew McCartney & Douglas Mark Smith

  5. WorldFish, Bayan Lepas, Malaysia

    Edward Hugh Allison

  6. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    Olivier Marc Joffre

  7. ICRAF (World Agroforestry), Nairobi, Kenya

    Fergus Sinclair

  8. Bangor University, Bangor, UK

    Fergus Sinclair

Authors
  1. Sarah Freed
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  2. Michaela Guo Ying Lo
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  7. Fergus Sinclair
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Contributions

S.F., M.G.Y.L., M.M. and F.S. conceived of the approach. S.F., M.G.Y.L., M.M., E.H.A., D.M.S., O.M.J. and F.S. conducted the research. S.F., M.G.Y.L., M.M., E.H.A., D.M.S. and F.S. wrote the article and the proposed rephrasing of the agroecological principles.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Freed.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Food thanks Philip Loring, Isaac Luginaah and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Freed, S., Lo, M.G.Y., McCartney, M. et al. Water and aquatic foods in revised principles of agroecology can accelerate food systems transformation. Nat Food 6, 432–439 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01152-9

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