WorldFish
Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, H.E. Alaa Farouk, signed and renewed the agreement to continue hosting WorldFish in Egypt in a landmark move that seals Egypt’s pivotal role on the African continent as a leading producer of aquatic foods and a hub for cutting-edge research in sustainable aquaculture development. Hosted since 1997, the international research center for aquatic food systems, WorldFish, has been an integral part of Egypt’s journey in becoming a powerhouse of aquaculture production, increasing it 12-fold in 25 years and opening an avenue for job creation, income generation and economic growth in the country.
“It is important for Egypt to drive more investments in its aquaculture sector in Egypt and Africa. In working with WorldFish, we can develop an integrated action plan for developing the sector, as the center brings scientific expertise that can raise the efficiency of producers and help Egypt’s producers achieve global standards, necessary to connect to foreign markets,” said H.E. Alaa Farouk, Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, at the signing ceremony, held December 4 in Cairo.
At the heart of Egypt and WorldFish’s collaboration is WorldFish’s Abbassa Research and Training Center, a hub for climate-smart aquaculture research, training and capacity building. The center leverages a systems approach, focusing its research on enhancing Nile tilapia performance, feed, fish health and strengthening the market systems so they are inclusive of women.
A breakthrough innovation from the center has been the Abbassa strain of Nile tilapia that reduced environmental impact by 36 percent while growing up to 28 percent faster, enabling Egypt to sustainably intensify its fish production. Today, the Abbassa strain is providing a solution to develop aquaculture in arid regions.
“WorldFish is honoured to be hosted by Egypt for another 25 years, cementing our longstanding collaboration. WorldFish is committed to work with Egypt and to bring its cross-cutting scientific expertise that can help the country and the wider region unlock the many benefits of sustainable aquaculture and related value chains—strengthening nutrition, women empowerment and economic growth,” said Dr. Essam Yassin Mohammed, WorldFish Director General.
The signing took place in the presence of H.E. Eng. Mostafa El Sayad, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Prof. Dr. Adel AbdElazeem, President of Agriculture Research Center and it’s Vice President, Dr. Saad Moussa who oversees foreign agricultural relations, WorldFish Board Chair Alyssa Jade McDonald-Baertl and Dr. Salah Moselhy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lakes and Fish Resources Protection and Development Authority and a member of WorldFish’s Board of Trustees.
Under the newly signed agreement, Egypt will continue to host the Abbassa Research and Training Center in Sharqia Governorate for another 25 years, where WorldFish works to both advance research and strengthen research capacity in the region to promote sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture sector in the African region.
Since 1999, through Abbassa, WorldFish, in collaboration with the Egyptian International Center for Agriculture and the Soy Excellence Center of the U.S. Soybean Export Council, has delivered training programs, reaching over 15,000 stakeholders from over 100 countries, including women retailers, youth, extension officers, and farmers.
Future plans for Egypt-WorldFish collaboration include aiming to continue the genetic improvement of tilapia and reaching 35 percent of tilapia farms with the improved Abbasa strain, sustainable and cost-effective fish feed, renewable energy technologies in the fish value chain, and certification of fish farms for export requirements.
Studying the impact of climate change on the sector and the application of biosecurity measures with national authorities are also on the agenda to ensure the sustainability and quality of farmed fish production.