Value-chain analysis of Egyptian aquaculture

Abstract

Egypt’s aquaculture production (705,490 tonnes in 2009) is by far the largest of any African country and places it 11th in terms of global production. The aquaculture sector makes a significant contribution to income, employment creation and food security in the country, all of which are national priority areas given low per capita income levels, rising population, worsening food security indicators, and official unemployment levels which have remained at around 10% for the last ten years. Despite the fact that the aquaculture sector in Egypt is now a mature one, having developed over a period of more than 30 years, the economic performance of the sector is not well understood or documented. To help improve this understanding, this report presents the outputs of a value-chain study for the sector. The study focused on four of the most important governorates in terms of aquaculture production: Kafr el Sheikh, Behera, Sharkia, and Fayoum. Individual interviews and focus group discussions with fish farmers, traders/wholesalers, and retailers, were used to collect quantitative and qualitative information about financial performance, employment creation, and the critical factors impacting on the performance of each sub-sector of the value-chain.