68 SEPTEMBER • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG FIGURE 3. Model US Smallholder system residents to grow healthy food in their own backyards to improve health, promote physical activity, decrease food insecurity and hunger, and help reduce their food costs. Gardeners received one of three gardening systems of their choice, in addition to materials, labor, training, and individualized support.” One of the solution sets tested was Deep Water aquaponics, a method of Integrated Aquaculture/Agriculture (City of Phoenix, 2025). Smallholder Aquaculture The final data on the Phoenix program is still being compiled. However, the use of aquaculture in backyards is not new and is being used successfully in Asia and Africa in what is called Smallholder farming. Smallholder farms can be confused with “smallscale” efforts but are smaller, at 2ha (5 acres), and instead of being focused on profit they are focused on feeding a family. The operators will, however, sell excess product much like the Victory Gardens of old. Internationally, this business model of farming produces approximately 30% of the world food supply (FAO 2025, Ritchie 2021, Shroff 2022, Wageningen 2025). Smallholder farms producing fish have traditionally used small ponds. Recently, to increase production efficiency, conserve water and reduce costs, a new innovative fish production system focusing on easy construction, comparatively low cost and locally available materials called “A-RAS” (Affordable Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) has been introduced. For largely the same reasons, the Backyard Garden Program used a streamlined version of Deep Water aquaponics that was developed in the U.S. for urban use in 2019 to enable the production of a variety of fish and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (Figure 3). Aquaponics can produce more than lettuce and tilapia (Fernández-Cabanás et al. 2023, City of Phoenix 2025). Like the Victory Gardens, smallholder farms can produce a wide variety of fruits, vegetable, staples and meats. As a matter of serendipity, some very interesting papers on this subject were presented at the recent World Aquaculture Safari ‘25 Conference. The following is an abridged list of products that a U.S. based smallholder urban farm can produce, including many of the same crops as a Victory Garden, in USDA growing zone 8/9: • Asian greens: Bok Choy, Joi Choi, Tokyo Bekana, Hon Tsai Tai, Komatsuna. • American Greens: Collard, Mustard, Red Mustard, Purple Kale. • Tomatoes: Cherry, Grape, Boutique Cherry, Best Boy, Cherry 100s, Yellow Pear. • Peas and Beans: Black Eyed Peas, Yard Long Beans, Lima, Pima Lima, Purple, Green Snap, Tepary (Brown & White). • Flowers: Nasturtium, Giant Zinnias, Celosia, Petunia, Marigold, Gazania, Cosmos, Lisianthus. • Lettuce: Garden mix, Butter Crunch, Red Sails, Red Oak Leaf, Green Oak Leaf, Simpson, Romain. • Melons/Gourds: Sugar baby Watermelon, Charentais, Luffa, Yellow Hybrid Melon, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Classic Cucumber, Armenian Cucumber, Japanese Cucumber, Lemon Cucumber, Zucchini, Yellow Squash. • Basils: Italian, Lemon, Thai, Cinnamon, Serata, Spicy Globe, Purple, African Blue. • Mints: Spear, Chocolate, Lemon, Mint (Mint). • Miscellaneous Crops: Red Chard, Rainbow Chard, Celery, Smallholder farms producing fish have traditionally used small ponds. Recently, to increase production efficiency, conserve water and reduce costs, a new innovative fish production system focusing on easy construction, comparatively low cost and locally available materials called “A-RAS” (Affordable Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) has been introduced. FIGURE 4. Aquaculture Value Chain
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