Recognising that global aquaculture production is projected to continue on its upward trajectory, the World Bank Group has established a Global Aquabusiness Investment Advisory Platform (AquaInvest Platform) that aims to “distil and improve best practices in aquabusiness development for economic, social and environmental sustainability”. The Platform has been structured as a Global Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) task, which is funded by PROBLUE and is a joint undertaking amongst World Bank teams, clients and partners. One of the key components of the AquaInvest Platform is the preparation of a set of Guidelines to promote aquaculture growth through sustainable investment in aquaculture, and aquaculture business development.
To this end, the World Bank, in collaboration with Advance Africa Management Services, is in the process of formulating the “Guidelines for Sustainable Aquabusiness Development”. The Guidelines will be a publicly accessible “living document” that will present, in a user-friendly way, the necessary requirements, analytics and enabling factors for investments in aquaculture that are environmentally responsible, socially acceptable, and economically viable, in line with the FAO Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture . The Guidelines will be global in their geographic scope, and will be adaptable across all major aquaculture species groups, production systems, production scales, and value chain activities. The Guidelines will not duplicate existing frameworks for sustainable and responsible aquaculture, but will build on these in a practical way, with a specific focus on investment and business development.
In this presentation, I outline progress made in the formulation of the guidelines and highlight key learnings, challenges and success factors for sustainable aquabusiness development.