The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)-funded Improving Employment and Income through Development of Egypt’s Aquaculture Sector (IEIDEAS) project was implemented by WorldFish in partnership with CARE Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation from 2011 to 2014 and later extended to November 2015. The project focused on four governorates with significant aquaculture production (Kafr El Sheikh, Behera, Sharkia and Fayoum) and one governorate (El Mineya), where aquaculture was a new activity. The project was based on a value chain analysis conducted by WorldFish in September 2011 that identified the aquaculture value chain as a significant employer, particularly in rural areas. The analysis suggested that there was scope to increase employment of youth and women in the aquaculture sector The main objective was to increase aquaculture production by 10% and create 10,000 jobs. Other objectives included improving profitability for existing producers, securing employment for women fish retailers, expanding aquaculture in El Mineya and improving the policy environment for aquaculture.

Poor rural consumers benefit from Egypt’s aquaculture sector through access to small and medium-sized farmed tilapia sold by informal fish retailers, many of whom are women. In fact, informal fish retail is the main, if not only, segment of the farmed fish value chain where women are found. This report aims to inform current and future strategies to improve conditions in informal fish retail by understanding in more depth the similarities and differences in employment quality and outcomes across different fish retailers. It is particularly focused on identifying whether and how gender inequality influences different dimensions of the work, and whether women and men have similar outcomes and employment conditions. This knowledge will help to design interventions to overcome gender-based constraints, as well as approaches that address shared obstacles and include both women and men in gender-responsive ways to ensure that all of those involved in the sector benefit.

This study provides a first assessment of the bivalve fisheries value chain in Egypt. The estimated number of fishers involved in the activity, both on a part-time and full-time basis, ranged between 2 600 and 7 300. It was estimated that the total production ranges between a minimum of 3 000 tonnes and a maximum of 21 000 tonnes per year and the revenue generated was estimated to be between USD 4.3 million and USD 18.5 million. This guaranteed an average yearly remuneration per fisher that ranged between about USD 100 and USD 4 000, depending on the area and the type of activity. In total, about 75 wholesalers and 24 auctioneers/wholesalers were identified who dealt partially or mainly with bivalves. About 10 to 15 of them were highly specialized in bivalves. The study also identified that bivalves are commonly present in fish markets, with several species already well-known to consumers, and that the market conditions are ripe for the introduction of species originating from new fisheries.

This report documents the outputs of the Aswan fisheries value chain study that took place in January and February 2015. This value chain analysis forms part of the Youth Employment in Aswan Governorate (YEAG) project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and led by CARE Egypt in partnership with WorldFish. The aim of the YEAG project is to increase incomes and employment for youth, women and men in Aswan by focusing on improving the performance of key value chains and enhancing the enabling environment. The current study concentrates on mapping and documenting fisheries value chains from fishers to retailers to identify the scope for job creation, livelihood improvement and poverty reduction.

The Near East and North Africa (NENA) region covers 18 countries and territories: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara and Yemen with a total land area of 9.8 million km2. The region is mostly arid or semi-arid but has extensive coastlines and includes a wide range of different economies from high income, hydrocarbon-rich countries to low-income states, some of which have been severely impacted by conflict in recent years. NENA aquaculture production was worth USD 2.3 billion in 2018, two-thirds of which came from Egypt and around one-quarter from Saudi Arabia. Production has grown rapidly since the 1980s, more than doubling over ten years and increasing by 50 percent over the five years preceding 2018 to reach 1.7 million tonnes. Egyptian fish farms accounted for 92 percent of production and Saudi Arabia for 4.2 percent while other significant producers included Iraq (25 737 tonnes), Tunisia (21 826 tonnes), Algeria (5 100 tonnes), the United Arab Emirates (3 350 tonnes) and the Syrian Arab Republic (2 350 tonnes). Although current aquaculture production levels are low, all these countries have high ambitions with further developing the sector, often for improved food self-sufficiency.

This volume includes five studies on tilapia farming in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, which together accounted for nearly 95 percent of Africa’s tilapia aquaculture production in the mid-2010s. Tilapia value chains are analysed from various perspectives: technical, economic, social and institutional.