The Voice of Small-scale Actors: Co-Designing Inclusive Policies for Aquatic Food Systems through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement

Small-scale aquatic food systems contribute significantly to global food security and nutrition, providing employment, livelihood improvement, and environmental sustainability. Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture contribute nearly 50% of the global fish catch for direct human consumption, underscoring their critical role in the seafood supply chain. Despite this, there is limited stakeholder engagement in developing policies on aquatic food systems availability, access, and gender inclusivity, creating a gap in inclusive participation that calls for efforts to ensure small-scale actors’ voices are represented in policy dialogues. To address this gap, a multi-stakeholder engagement on small-scale aquatic food systems was designed to foster inclusive policymaking, attracting participation from 10 African countries. Two structured experimental designs explored policy options development and power dynamics. Stakeholder groups included producers, the private sector, civil society, policymakers, and research/academia. The study employed a mixed methodology involving clustered study design and focus group discussions. Participants identified policy challenges and developed proposals addressing small-scale aquatic food system issues, while power dynamics in decision-making were assessed through structured voting mechanisms. Findings revealed a preference for policies empowering marginalized groups through sustainable financial services, capacity building, and technological advancements. The highest-voted policy focused on improving aquatic food availability through technological innovations, with 75% of votes from the most disadvantaged participants, 16.67% from those with moderate influence, and 8.33% from the most influential stakeholders. Discussions centred on three themes: improving access to aquatic foods, removing barriers for small-scale actors, and strengthening multi-level collaboration. Policy options were formulated and refined through structured deliberations, balancing trade-offs to ensure inclusivity and sustainability. Overall, the workshop underscored the significance of developing a focused framework to encourage discussions on small-scale aquatic food systems for nutrition and food security.