December fish month in Egypt

Egyptian winter has set in. Temperatures have dropped to an average of 15˚. As fish slow down, so does fishing farming in Africa’s largest fish farming market. Time for players in the aquaculture sector to look for partnership opportunities. This has kept the agriculture team of the Netherlands Embassy in Cairo energized, occupied, and amazed of the potential for further cooperation, trade and investment in this sub-sector.

Fish for healthy diets

Fish is an important part of healthy diets for the growing population of Egypt. It is rich in protein, low in fat and a source of nutrients that are important for physical and cognitive development. Fish farming thus not only contributes to jobs and income but also to giving children the nutrients they need to become productive members of society.  

Fish for healthy diets

Egyptian-Dutch joint venture

On 8 December we were invited to visit Koudijs KAPO’s animal feed factory in Borg Al-Arab, near Alexandria. This is a joint venture between De Heus, a Dutch family business and Egyptian family business KAPO owned by the Kamar family. They have been producing poultry feed here since 2003. In 2017 they expanded their production with a modern fish feed line with a current capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes per year. They are eager to explore opportunities an expansion of both the fish feed market and partnerships to provide fish farmers with the skills they need to profitably and sustainably supply consumers with fish.

Egyptian-Dutch joint venture

Sustainable intensification

A visit to a medium sized fish farmer showed how far the aquaculture sector has come within one generation. From keeping wildly caught fish in ponds with little added feed, they have moved to using quality fish feed and fry from local hatcheries. Meanwhile they have increased their production for market. Fish farmers however still have enough opportunities to work together and in partnerships to improve their production, skills and marketing. Also, intensifying production leads to new challenges for solving such as improving water quality and avoiding disease.

Sustainable intensification

Brood stock

December also brought Til-Aqua International on a visit to Egypt to meet with partners. Til-Aqua is a Dutch family business specialized in fish genetics. Their technology for "hormone free all male tilapia (Natural Male Tilapia - Til-Aqua's YY-Technology)", gives fish farmers faster growing fish that need less feed to produce more without the negative environmental and animal health effects of using hormones. This can provide fish farmers a new option to sustainably increase their production of fish for markets. (Click here for more on Til-Aqua –in Dutch)

Opportunities for partnership

These various meetings and visits have made clear that there is great potential for knowledge exchange and innovation between Dutch, Egyptian and international partners. The Agriculture team of the embassy will explore options for mobilizing the Dutch players to work together pre-competitively and be relevant for their Egyptian partners.