August 14th, 2018

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Location: Conrad Hotel | Nile Ballroom
1191 Nile Corniche, Cairo

The IFPRI-Egypt Seminar Series is part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project called “Evaluating Impact and Building Capacity” (EIBC) that is implemented by IFPRI. The seminar supports USAID’s Agribusiness for Rural Development and Increasing Incomes (ARDII) project’s objectives.

In partnership with

"Leveraging aquaculture and fisheries for improving food and nutrition security in Egypt"

Fisheries and farmed fish supply are undergoing major transitions globally, as production from capture fisheries have stagnated while aquaculture has become the fastest growing food sectors (SOFIA 2016 & 2018 reports). These trends are also evident in Egypt. Since 2000, the country has seen output from its capture fisheries declining overall while on the other hand aquaculture production has more than tripled. As a result, aquaculture now contributes 77% of the country’s national production and 60% of per capita fish consumption (22.8kg/year). Meanwhile, farmed tilapia, the fastest growing sub-sector, has become one of the most affordable sources of protein, thereby offering a strategically important sector for addressing food and nutrition security.

As evidence from other countries shows, there is a lot of potential to better leverage aquaculture for economic growth, through employment generation, development of domestic and export food markets and nutrition. While fish supply chain infrastructure linking fish farming hotspots with different regions remains under-developed, communities in Upper Egypt and more remote Riverine districts continue to depend on inland fisheries. In these areas, up-to-date stock assessments and the strengthening of fisheries co-management offer important interventions for addressing food insecurity. This seminar will provide an overview of changing trends in fish production, supply and consumption in Egypt and discuss solutions as to how to further improve and scale-up the sector. It’s panel of speakers will introduce findings and present recommendations from ongoing research across the country’s main fish sectors relating to sustainable production, environmental management, and pro-poor market development for improved fish supply and food safety.