Malcolm Dickson • 2017 IFPRI Egypt Seminar in partnership with WorldFish: Aquaculture in Egypt

1. The Rise of Aquaculture in Egypt;
Successes and Challenges
Dr Malcolm Dickson, Country Director
IFPRI Egypt Seminar: The role of aquaculture in improving food security, income and
employment in Egypt. 28th March 2017, Climate Change Information Center, ARC, Cairo.

2. Introduction to WorldFish

3. WorldFish Egypt
• International, nonprofit, research
organization; one of the CG group of
15 International Agricultural Research
Centers
• Mission: ‘To reduce poverty and
hunger by improving fisheries and
aquaculture’
• Agriculture Research Center facilities
at Abbassa, Sharkia made available to
ICLARM (now WorldFish) in 1997
• Total site 62 hectares, 162 production
ponds, offices, training facilities,
laboratories, accommodation

4. Egyptian aquaculture vs. fisheries
425731 373815 356857
445181
693815
1097544
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
1400000
1600000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
tonnesperyear
Fish production in Egypt (t/yr)
Aquaculture
Fisheries
1,454,401 t/yr
870,912 t/yr
• Aquaculture production in 2015 estimated at 1,174,831 tonnes
• 13 kg per person per year or one fish per person per week

5. Global aquaculture production
China
Indonesia
India
Viet nam
Phillipines
Bangladesh
Korea
Norway
Egypt
Japan
Other
2015 SHARE OF GLOBAL AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION
TOTAL = 106 MILLION T/YR, EGYPT = 1.17 MILLION T/YR

6. African aquaculture production
Egypt
Nigeria
Uganda
Ghana
Zambia
Kenya
Tunisia
Zimbabwe
Madagascar Malawi
Other
2015 AFRICAN AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION

7. Egyptian aquaculture - species
• Mainly Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus
• Mullets; flathead grey mullet, Mugil
cephalus and thin-lipped mullet, Liza
ramada
• Carp; Common carp, Cyprinus carpio,
Grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella,
Silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix
• African catfish, Clarias gariepinus
• Marine species; Sea bream, Sparus
aurata; Sea bass Dicentrarcus labrax;
Meagre, Argyrosomus regius

8. Aquaculture value chain
Input supply Production Wholesale Retail
Hatcheries
Traders
Feed mills
Fish farmers
Wholesaler/ fish
traders
Informal retailers
Fish shops
HORECA
Exports
Processor
Wild
seed

9. Aquaculture zones
Law 124 of 1983 defines where and how aquaculture is permitted:
• In defined aquaculture zones where no other activities are allowed
• Using water from drainage canals or lakes
• No use of fresh Nile water for aquaculture
Sharkia/Port Said
Kafr El Sheikh
Beheira
Fayoum

10. ‘Where can I buy safe, farmed fish?
• Farming in unclean drainage water could result in
‘contaminated’ fish
• WorldFish arranged tests of tilapia flesh for a full year from
multiple locations in QCAP lab
• No evidence of significant heavy metal, pesticide or herbicide
contamination
• Farmed fish eat ‘clean’ food – mainly based on soya
• Could be exported to EU – but poor post-harvest handling and
transport results in rapid deterioration
• Also sector management framework not to EU standard
• Quality certified farmed tilapia under development through
IDH supported project - should be available soon!

11. WorldFish research
• IEIDEAS project supported by SDC the Swiss Agency for Development
and Cooperation (2012-2015)
– Introduce the faster growing Abbassa strain of Nile tilapia
– Deliver best management practice training to fish farmers
– With CARE, develop group-based approach to support informal women
fish retailers
– With CARE, investigate whether small-scale and integrated aquaculture
would work in Mineya
– Improve the policy and institutional environment
• Followed by STREAMS project (2016-2018) also supported by SDC
– Continue support for existing value chain stakeholders; BMP, Abbassa
strain, key organizations
– Investigate options for small-scale and integrated aquaculture
development
– Market development; informal retailers, processing, post-harvest handling

12. Abbassa improved strain of Nile tilapia

13. BMP training

14. Support for women retailers

15. Upper Egypt aquaculture

16. Organizational & policy development

17. Challenges and opportunities
• Aquaculture already provides jobs, food security, nutrition – how can
it continue to expand to match population growth and demand?
– Sustainable intensification of existing systems
– Expansion of the area (and water?) dedicated for aquaculture
– New feed sources (most feed raw materials imported)
• Sector management has not caught up with rapid expansion
– 60% of farms not licensed, no big players (apart from feed companies)
all medium scale businesses,
– poor representation by producer organizations
• Climate change & scarce/poor quality water
– Temperature rises, extreme weather events, sea level rise
– Increased disease problems – drainage canals receiving less water,
contaminated by sewage and industrial discharges
– Summer mortality of tilapia/Tilapia Lake Virus – need for biosecurity!

18. Nebamun’s tomb – 1350 BCTomb of Sabni, Aswan – 2200 BC
Origins of Egyptian aquaculture