Middle East focus – Egypt WorldFish
Dr Malcolm Dickson has been based in Egypt since 2012 as
project leader for the WorldFish managed IEIDEAS project. As a donor funded
research organisati on, with a mission of reducing poverty and hunger through developing fi sheries and aquaculture, WorldFish focuses on improving the
livelihoods of poor people and increasing access to aff ordable and nutriti ous food.
BY MALCOLM DICKSON
Blue revolution A
lthough Egypt is well known for politi cal revoluti ons, its fi sh farmers are behind a remarkable blue revoluti on that has seen aquaculture producti on climb to over
one million tons per year, around three ti mes the amount produced a decade ago. As nearly all the fi sh is sold locally, this has
resulted in the supply rising from around 15 kg to over 20 kg per person per year, a remarka- ble achievement when per capita fi sh supplies are declining across the rest of the African conti nent. Farmed fi sh is now the cheapest animal
sourced food and provides a valuable source of protein and micronutrients for Egypt’s 87 million people, around a quarter of whom are offi cially classed as poor. The rapid growth of Egypti an aquaculture is based on commitments made in the early 1980s when large areas of land were set aside for the development of fi sh ponds, key personnel were trained in the US, the General Authority for Fisheries Resources Development (GAFRD) was established and hatcheries and feed mills were set up. There are now around 120,000 ha of aquacul-
ture ponds, supplied with water from Egypt’s extensive irrigati on system. Most are leased in blocks of around 10 ha to about 6,000 fi sh farmers. They are supplied with Nile ti lapia seed from private sector hatcheries and mullet seed from fry catchers and traders operati ng along the Mediterranean coast. Meanwhile, the feed sector has also expand- ed to meet demand, with internati onal com-
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panies such as Skretti ng and Aller Aqua setti ng up factories alongside locally owned mills and small-scale operati ons, where the farmer can bring along his raw materials for processing. The internati onal research organisati on,
Egypt’s fi sh farmers spearhead remarkable growth with help from training initiative and faster growing tilapia strain
WorldFish, has played a key role in the develop- ment of the Egypti an aquaculture sector. Part of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Abbassa research site in Sharkia was given to WorldFish in 1997 to establish an Africa and West Asia regional offi ce and research centre. This has been used for on-stati on research and training, as well as a base to support fi eld research. Following the January 2011 revoluti on in
Egypt, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperati on (SDC) wanted to support em- ployment and economic acti vity, which led to the deployment of the £3 million Improving Employment and Incomes through the Develop-
Clockwise top left: Informal retailers sell most of the fi sh farmed in Egypt; Nile ti lapia fry from an Egypti an hatchery; Fish fry bagged and ready for transport. Photos: Heba El Begawi/WorldFish
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