Egypt’s aquaculture production (921,585 tonnes in 2010) is by far the largest of any African country and places
it 11th in terms of global production. 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 WorldFish Centre conducted a value-chain
study for the sector in September 2011. The study completed individual interviews and focus group discussions
with fish farmers, traders/wholesalers, and retailers in four of the most important governorates in terms of
aquaculture production: Kafr el Sheikh, Behera, Sharkia, and Fayoum. The study mapped the value-chain, and
generated a wide range of quantitative data for each link in the value-chain on operational and financial
performance (e.g. gross output values, variable and fixed costs, operational and net profit margins, value-added
generation), and on employment creation (by gender, age and full-time/part-time). Qualitative information on
the critical factors impacting on the performance of each sub-sector of the value-chain was also collected, and
this enabled recommendations to be made about necessary actions both by those within the value-chain and by
those outside of it (i.e. government), to improve value-chain performance. The study showed how value-chain
analysis can be a useful tool to describe sector performance and to make evidence-based recommendations for
improvements.
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