Aquaponics for Sustainability and Food Security in Rural Ontario

Worldwide, aquaculture is important for food security and nutrition (FAO, 2015). In Ontario, the aquaculture sub-sector is relatively small and dispersed (OMAFRA, 2015). Understanding the context, stakeholders and prospective actors are essential within this sub-sector. This requires 1) the identifying key stakeholders; 2) establishing the groundwork for the industry including capturing investment and development opportunities, and 3) establishing the foundation for a knowledge transfer network in relation to education and extension of potential aquaculture. Emphasis is placed on using an innovation brokerage model that involves diverse stakeholders (Klerkx et al., 2010). Ontario aquaculture is dominated by a small number of large farms. However, there are also organic aquaponics farms currently are a small sub-section of producers. Among this group of producers, there are op opportunities to grow businesses with capacity building and knowledge sharing. Therefore, my research goal is to use an innovative systems approach to identify, map and analyze the actor within Ontario’s aquaponic production and value chains in order to determine the needs of small and medium producers, including attention to the knowledge of science, capacity building, and networking potential. I intend to develop a methodology for collaboration and capacity building in order to support the achievement of socio-cultural and economic benefits of aquaponics in rural Ontario.