Meeting the need and demand for

Animal Source Foods in the MENA

region: the potential of aquaculture

Stephen J. Hall

1

Animal Source Foods

High quality protein

Improved absorption of other

nutrients.

Essential vitamins and minerals

A key part of a balanced diet

An expectation (and right)

Consumption of even small amounts of

animal source foods contribute substantially

to ensuring dietary adequacy and preventing

under nutrition and nutritional deficiencies. Neumann et al (2003)

2

Fish supply

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

Farmed

Capture

Year Year

Fis

h P

roduction (

tonnes)

Farmed vs Capture Capture by Country

Capture fisheries production stagnant, aquaculture

the only option for increasing supply

3

MENA Aquaculture Production (2009)

Egypt

Iran

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Production Value (US$)

Sources: FAO FishStat 4

Key Messages

Aquaculture is a business

Insights will come from value chain analysis

Freshwater culture drives fish production.

A focus on mariculture to meet food security objectives is misplaced.

High capital costs and risks (shaky business case).

Export focus offers limited returns to local economies or food supply.

Few MENA countries have meaningful potential to produce fish at scale.

Traditional livestock focus will make more sense in many settings.

Only Egypt currently produces significant quantities of fish.

An important contributor of affordable animal source food.

High potential to contribute further to national and regional food security.

Meeting this growth potential can also lead to employment growth.

5

Renewable Water Supply (km3.yr-1)

Sudan Iraq

Iran

Egypt

Fre

sh a

nd B

rackis

hw

ate

r A

qua

culture

Pro

duction (

ton

ne

s)

Sources: FAO FishStat;Pacific Institute 6

More Meat Milk and Fish by and for the Poor

7

Prioritizing criteria for

investment Need

National food and nutrition security assessments indicate current situation as ‘low’ or ‘at risk.’

Potential

Markets for fish are developed to a scale that offers potential to support a value chain focus

Potential for aquaculture to contribute significantly to meeting national/regional fish demand within 5-7 years

Enabling environment and potential for partnership

National and regional policy environment supports the proposed approach

International development agency policy environment supports the proposed approach

Non-Government development partners identify aquaculture value chains as a fruitful area for investment

8

Egyptian Aquaculture

020406080

100120140160180200220240260280

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Years

Tilapia

Carp

Mullet

Bass&Bream

2009

• 705,000 tonnes

• 15.4 kg fish person-1 y-1

1994

• 57,000 tonnes

• 8.5 kg fish person-1 y-1

• 75% of Africa’s

aquaculture

• Employs 200,000

people

tho

us

an

d t

on

ne

s

9

The cheapest Animal Source Food for Egyptian

consumers is fish

Year 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

2

4

6

8

10

Pri

ce (

LE)/

kg

100

200

300

400

Vo

lum

e (Ton

nes x 1

00

0)

Tilapia Volume

Tilapia Price

c)

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

5

10

15

20

25

Co

ntr

ibu

tio

n t

o t

ota

l die

tary

pro

tein

(%

)

Fish

Total Animal

d)

Year

Wild Capture

Imports

Wild Capture + Imports - Exports

Aquaculture

Vo

lum

e (T

on

nes

x 1

00

0)

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

100

200

300

400

500

600

Year

700 a)

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

4

8

12

16

Per

Cap

ita

Fish

Su

pp

ly (k

g/p

erso

n/y

ear)

Without Aquaculture

With Aquaculture b)

Year

10

Strategic Partnerships

National

ARC and GAFRD

universities

industry

Regional and Global

FAO

NGOs (CARE)

ARIs

Industry

11

• Average per capita fish consumption for poor consumers in target markets reaches 75% of national average.

• Consumption patterns among poor consumers are gender equitable.

Impacts

•# Identified VC constraints resolved or lessened.

•% increase in identified value chain effectiveness metrics.

Intermediate Outcome Ultimate Outcome

•Sustainable supply of 1 million tonnes of tilapia per annum for domestic markets by 2018.

•Fish prices for poor consumers in target markets remain at or below 2010 prices.

Equitable efficient value chains Inputs&

Services

Production

Transport&

Processing

Marketing

Inputs&

Services

Production

Transport&

Processing

Marketing

Inputs&

Services

Production

Transport&

Processing

Marketing

Seed Feed

Fish

12

Fish Farms • Stock in April and harvest in Sep–Dec i.e. 8-9 months • Sell 99% of the fish harvested

• Average annual sales volumes and values : 94 tonnes and LE 890,000

• All product sold live, or fresh (w/wo ice) • 8.3 full-time jobs per 100 tonnes sold

• Av. size 265 g tilapia, 409 g grey mullet, 216 g thin- lipped mullet and 1481 g catfish

Retail Sector (and food service sectors) • Keep fish <1 day

• Sell 99% of fish purchased

• Average annual sales volumes and values of 65 tonnes and LE 940,000

• Domestic sales only

• Almost all product sold live, or fresh (w/wo ice) but small quantities cooked/grilled

• 4.6 full-time jobs per 100 tonnes sold

Fish traders/ wholesalers

• Keep fish for <1 day

• Sell 99% of fish purchased

• Average sales volumes and values per year of 1112 tonnes and LE 11.9 million

• All product sold live, or fresh (w/wo ice) • 0.9 full-time jobs per 100 tonnes sold

Sell / deliver to

Inputs : Feed, fry, capital, land, labour, fertiliser,

power/electricity, water, nets, pumps, generators,

transport/vehicles, ice

Inputs : Transport/vehicles, ice, labour, boxes, power/electricity,

buildings

Inputs : Transport/vehicles, ice, labour, buildings, power/electricity, fridges, freezers, cookers

Sell / deliver to

The Aquaculture Value Chain, Egypt

from: Macfadyen et al. (2011) 13

VCA – Key Findings • No exports – short and simple

VC

• No processing – all fish sold

fresh or live

• Little spoilage

• Employment is around 14

FTEs per 100 tonnes

• Evenly divided between youth

and older workers

• Females mainly in retail

• Producers receive 72% final

consumer price

from: Macfadyen et al. 2011

14

VCA – Key Findings

• Production costs = $US 1300 t-1

• Feed accounts for 67% total costs

• Operational costs dominate all VC

segments

Net profits

Producers 22%

Traders 3.9

Retailers 6.8%

• Critical factors affecting producers

include poor fry, poor stocking, poor

feed management

15

Investment needed to: Modernize the industry by improving technologies and

building capacity.

“Critical factors affecting producers include poor fry,

poor stocking, poor feed management”

P

ho

to c

redit:

Na

bil

Ahm

ed I

bra

him

& M

oh

am

ed

Yeh

ia A

bou

Za

id Abbassa strain Commercial strain

112g

No o

f tr

ain

ee

s

Progress, but much more needed 16

Investment needed to: Develop regional markets for supplying affordable fish

to poor consumers

Identify where regional demand is not being met

Identify barriers to meeting supply in these markets and

strategies for overcoming them.

Identify specific interventions that will make value chains more

efficient and improve availability and affordability of supply. (e.g.

market information systems (ICT’s), producer and retailer

networks)

• Growing need and opportunity

• High potential for employment growth in Egypt

(production, processing and marketing)

17

Thank You

18