Feeding the Future Fairly: Advancing Decent Work in Aquaculture as an Essential Pillar of Sustainable Food Systems

Aquaculture has an important role to play in global food security, nutrition, rural livelihoods and economic transformation. It can expand access to nutritious aquatic foods, generate income and create employment, particularly for women and young people. But its contribution to sustainable food systems depends on more than only increasing production, it also depends on whether the people who produce our food can work safely, earn fair incomes, and enjoy their rights.

These messages were at the heart of the official side event, “Feeding the Future Fairly: Advancing Decent Work in Aquaculture as an Essential Pillar of Sustainable Food Systems”, held during the 54th session of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome. Co-hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and CARE, the event brought together representatives of international organizations, workers, employers and food systems experts to explore how decent work could become central to sustainable aquaculture.

The discussion came at a critical time because the UN High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) is advancing its work on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition, and the ILO had recently passed the Code of practice on occupational safety and health in aquaculture. Participants highlighted the importance of ensuring that workers’ rights and livelihoods were reflected in the evidence and policy recommendations shaping the sector’s future. 

Across fisheries and aquaculture, many small-scale producers, workers, and small businesses operate in informal or precarious conditions, with limited access to social protection, finance, training, technology and stable markets. Women make essential contributions along aquatic food value chains but often face barriers to productive assets, decision-making and higher-value activities. Young people encounter difficulties accessing finance, markets and the skills needed to establish viable enterprises. Child labour also remains a serious concern. More than 60% of child labour worldwide occurs in agriculture, including fisheries and aquaculture, where work within family enterprises can be particularly difficult to identify.

In his opening remarks, Juan Carlos Mendoza Casadiegos, Director of IFAD’s Environment, Climate and People Division, emphasized a fundamental distinction: creating work is not the same as creating decent work. He highlighted the need to integrate labour considerations into aquaculture investments from the outset and throughout the value chain, including fair remuneration, occupational safety and health, workers’ rights, gender equality, social protection and opportunities for skills development.

IFAD’s experience also demonstrated the importance of connecting training with viable businesses, finance, markets and decent employment. Its Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) provide a framework for identifying and managing labour risks and occupational safety and health concerns in projects. These approaches help ensure that investments contribute to inclusive rural transformation and lasting poverty reduction.

The event highlighted two important international tools developed through the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): 

• The ILO–FAO Guidance on Eliminating Child Labour in Fisheries and Aquaculture provides a framework for governments, employers, workers and their partners to prevent child labour, protect young workers and promote sustainable alternatives for families. 
• The Code of Practice on Occupational Safety and Health in Aquaculture offers practical guidance on addressing workplace hazards, including diving, equipment, chemicals and mass mortality events. Presentations by FAO and ILO specialists demonstrated how these resources could support stronger protections across aquatic food value chains.

Contributions from Kirill Buketov of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) and Alan Duclaud, representing the International Organization of Employers (IOE), brought workers’ and employers’ perspectives into the discussion. He noted that it is crucial to ensure that workers remain protected as agriculture and aquaculture sectors continue to be a fundamental employment source for millions around the world. Their participation reinforced the importance of meaningful dialogue and collaboration in translating international guidance into practice.

The side event built on the CFS policy recommendations on promoting decent work in agri-food systems adopted at CFS 52, extending this agenda to fisheries and aquaculture. Participants discussed good practices, gaps and priorities for action, while strengthening partnerships across the sector.

Crucially, the discussion contributed to the wider policy dialogue surrounding the HLPE-FSN’s forthcoming work and the CFS policy product on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Recognizing labour rights, occupational safety, gender equality and the needs of small-scale producers in these processes will help ensure that sustainability encompasses not only environmental and economic outcomes, but also workers’ dignity and well-being.

For the Decent Work for Equitable Food Systems Coalition, the message was clear that aquaculture can help feed the world, but the people who make that possible must share fairly in what they help build. Building sustainable aquatic food systems requires decent work to be treated not as an afterthought, but as an essential pillar of food security, equity and social justice.