Analysis of the Aquaponic System Sustainability via System Dynamics Modelling – FEW Nexus Approach

Aquaponic systems integrate aquaculture and hydroponics, recycling nutrient-enriched water from fish tanks to grow plants, significantly reducing carbon emissions, water use and production costs compared to other methods. It is considered a sustainable solution for food production, addressing issues such as climate change and eutrophication. Particularly valuable in family farming, it increases the diversity and quality of food, while reducing its environmental impact. However, despite its potential, aquaponics lacks recognition in public policies, making its widespread adoption difficult. Quantifying its benefits is crucial for strategic planning and the formulation of policies to support family farming and the transition to sustainability, in line with global objectives. Therefore, there is a need to comprehensively quantify the benefits of aquaponics, particularly in terms of the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus, to support decision-making and policy formulation for sustainable agriculture. The nexus concept encompasses highly complex systems requiring robust tools capable of analysing the interrelationships between multiple components. Aiming to analyse the degree of sustainability of aquaponics systems on family property in the FEW nexus context, a System Dynamics Modelling (SDM) coupling Socio-economic and environmental indicators was developed. The results obtained demonstrated the efficiency of using SDM as an analysis and support tool for decision-making. Additionally, they prove the environmental viability of food production via aquaponic systems.