Climate-adaptive, inclusive, nature-based aquaculture (CAINA) in Malaysia and Solomon Islands

The current global food systems are unsustainable, unhealthy and inequitable, yet they must meet increasing population demand while responding to the climate crisis. Aquaculture is increasingly considered a viable solution to this growing demand for nutritious food globally. Aquaculture can take a different trajectory than agriculture as the industry scales to meet demand, learning from both sustainable intensification and regenerative or agroecological approaches. However, research on such nature-based solutions (NbS) in aquaculture is sparse.

This project will explore and define NbS in aquaculture and develop clear standards for nature-based aquaculture (NBA) and tools to measure the environmental, social and economic performance of NBA operations through case studies in Malaysia and Solomon Islands. It will also develop pathways for scaling NBA in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This project will combine primary data collection through case studies, stakeholder consultation workshops, key informant interviews and focus groups with secondary data collection through literature reviews. The project will produce framework and evaluation tools, explanatory briefs, peer-reviewed papers and policy recommendations to define, measure and scale NBA in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It is estimated that 1.12 million undernourished consumers in Malaysia and Solomon Islands can benefit from this research, as will the planet through lowering emissions, increasing carbon sequestration and restoring ecosystems.

The project is part of the Nature-based Climate Solutions in Aquacultural Food Systems in Asia-Pacific initiative (AQUADAPT), which is co-funded by Global Affairs Canada and IDRC. AQUADAPT is a four-year, CAD23-million initiative aimed at driving research-action toward inclusive NBA solutions and at better understanding of how such solutions can contribute to climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and food security across the Asia-Pacific region.