Systems-Based Approach to Understanding Digital and Data Needs in Aquatic Foods Systems

Abstract

Digital and data systems are increasingly essential for strengthening decision-making, coordination, and sustainability across aquatic food systems. However, in many low- and middle-income contexts, these systems remain fragmented, under-resourced, or inaccessible to the very actors who depend on them. Fish farmers, fisherfolk, traders, processors, extension officers, regulators, and private-sector partners often face significant challenges in accessing timely, accurate, and interoperable information. Data is frequently incomplete, delayed, siloed across institutions, or locked behind systems that are difficult to use. Weak infrastructure, uneven digital literacy, and gender- and age-based disparities further limit the ability of women, youth, and small-scale producers to benefit from emerging digital innovations. This protocol provides a structured, participatory methodology for diagnosing and addressing digital and data needs within aquaculture and capture fisheries value chains. Building on systems thinking principles, it integrates focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and feedback and reflection workshops to capture both lived experiences at community level and institutional perspectives at system level. The approach moves beyond isolated analysis of tools or datasets, instead examining how people, technologies, and institutions interact, and where breakdowns occur across the aquatic food ecosystem. The protocol is organized around eight core stages: (i) setting systems boundaries, including the development of research tools, participant selection, and facilitator training; (ii) understanding digital and data needs including related infrastructure at each value chain stage; (iii) identifying existing tools and access pathways and assessing their usefulness, reliability, and accessibility; (iv) documenting missing data and digital tools, and understanding how these gaps constrain productivity, safety, coordination, and sustainability; (v) uncovering system-level barriers such as inadequate connectivity, weak interoperability, institutional fragmentation, and governance challenges; (vi) collective envisioning of solutions, enabling participants to articulate realistic innovations and enabling conditions; (vii) in-depth KIIs, which provide policy, governance, and institutional insights that complement FGD findings; and (viii) synthesis, visualization, and participatory validation, where results are integrated into analytic narratives, simple system maps, and presented back to stakeholders through workshops for accuracy and collective ownership. Across FGDs, participants are grouped by value chain stage, including fish farmers, fisherfolk, small-scale processors, traders, input providers, and local aquaculture/fisheries officers to ensure focused discussions that reflect shared roles and experiences. 108–144 FGD participants and 33 key informants will be engaged, with a minimum inclusion target of 40% women and youth (<35 years). The expected outcome is a comprehensive, stakeholder-validated understanding of existing digital and data practices, key operational and institutional constraints, and priority opportunities for innovation. The findings will inform the development of actionable recommendations for policy. By rooting the assessment process in participatory systems thinking, this protocol supports the co-design of context-specific, inclusive, and sustainable digital solutions capable of strengthening resilience and performance across aquatic food systems.