Employment generation in the Egyptian aquaculture value chain: implications for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Abstract

Egypt faces multiple interlinked challenges such as unemployment, poverty and gender inequality that pose tremendous barriers in the current efforts to achieve sustainable development. Aquaculture is a primary sector of the economy that has high potential to not only for provide nutritious food, but also to contribute to the national economy. The aquaculture value chain provides substantial employment generation opportunities, including for females and the youth. This paper assesses employment generation along the different stages of the aquaculture value chain in the main governorates that are responsible for about 80% of the Egyptian aquaculture production. In particular it analyses data from surveys in hatcheries (N=40), feed mills (N=14), fish farms (N=234), and fish trading and retailing (N=182) as a proxy of employment generation patterns for the entire sector. We estimated that aquaculture generates 19.56 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs per 100t of produced fish along the entire value chain. However most of these jobs are generated for males over 30 years of age, with few jobs for females or younger people. Most jobs for female are currently generated at the retailing stage. Boosting employment generation across the entire value chain, especially for females and the youth, can contribute to the attainment of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as SDG 8 and SDG 5.