Wetlands provide opportunities for diversifying food production practices.

Wetlands Day 2024 recognises the significance of wetlands, which encompass a wide range of habitats, including marshes, swamps, bogs, and mangroves. Wetlands are essential as they provide ecosystem “goods and services”. These ecosystems play a crucial role in maintaining water quality, supporting biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and providing livelihood opportunities for people. Furthermore, wetlands are part of the agricultural food system; they offer opportunities for adequate food production for the increasing population. They provide water for crops, livestock, aquaculture (the process of growing fish/ farming), and pond fisheries and help regulate the environment. Fish harvested from the wetlands provides the primary source of protein for communities dependent on fisheries.

In South Africa, there is renewed attention towards aquaculture to address some of the food system challenges, such as malnutrition, food insecurity, etc. Amongst the key priority areas proposed in food system transformation pathways was the need to promote aquatic foods in the food basket and to produce these at a household level, and to promote marine and inland fresh-water fish species and aquatic farming to address challenges faced by small fishers, harvesters, farmers and address some food security challenges. However, aquaculture comes with its own sustainability challenges as it mainly depends on scarce water resources.

These sustainability challenges result in wetland loss and degradation. These challenges emphasise the need for sustainable use of wetlands to support aquaculture and the transformation of aquaculture practices to protect the wetlands. This transformation will require intentional “human agency” of various role players and communities involved in the aquatic food production systems. Simply put, agency is the capacity to affect the broader system change, including various sub-systems.

Therefore, the agency of various role players is critical, as they can enable or constrain the agricultural food system transformation efforts. The practices of various stakeholders and communities can reproduce wetland loss and degradation or transform wetlands for sustainable aquaculture production. In light of this insight, understanding the actions of actors in and around wetland use for aquaculture practices is essential. Understanding the actions and practices in and around wetlands for aquaculture can enable us to work out ways to protect the wetlands whilst ensuring sustainable fish production for nutrition. In ‘agency’ lies endless possibilities to contribute towards the food system transformation pathways.