Egypt promotes farmed fish as food security measure

Some of Egypt’s top chefs have come together to taste test new preparation methods and recipes for farmed Nile tilapia, as part of a project aimed at increasing the use of farmed fish to improve food and nutrition security in the region.

At a workshop hosted by WorldFish in partnership with the Egyptian Chef’s Association, organisers sought to discover chefs’ preferences and influencing factors when buying seafood and raise awareness of the range of tilapia products available.

Egypt is the world’s second largest producer of tilapia — the country’s most farmed fish — with the industry providing an average of one fish per week for each of its 90 million people.

Participants at the workshop tasted and gave feedback on new products such as small fish and fillets; two products rarely found in Egyptian restaurants but widely consumed in America and Europe. This method, based on sensory science research approaches refined by the Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, provides an accurate way to gather rich consumer acceptance and purchasing data that can be replicated in other geographies for various fish species.

WorldFish hosted the event in collaboration with the Egyptian Chefs Association (ECA), a non-profit organisation representing 1000 professional chefs in Egypt and a national authority and opinion leader on food. Other highlights of the workshop, held at the WorldFish Aquaculture Research Center in Abbassa, Sharkeya, included field visits to Nile tilapia aquaculture farms, a cooking demonstration by chef Markus Iten and an educational session on Egyptian aquaculture.

“Farmed tilapia is affordable, tasty and environmentally friendly, and a healthy source of protein, nutrients and essential fatty acids. By encouraging chefs to use more farmed tilapia in their restaurants, they will contribute to improved food and nutrition security in Egypt, where around 17% suffer from food shortages throughout the year,” WorldFish Egypt Country Program Manager Malcolm Dickson said.

“Nile tilapia provides a versatile and nutritious product for restaurant clientele and is at the same time an environmentally friendly choice. The workshop was an opportunity to promote the high quality of farmed tilapia products to the hotel and catering market in Egypt, which is in line with the association’s goal to promote local sourcing of food among chefs,” ECA Founder and Honorary President Markus Iten said.

The results of this workshop contribute to WorldFish’s research into value chains, which focuses on: improving the efficiency of producing, processing and trading fish; producing or marketing more sophisticated products with increased value; reducing negative impacts such as waste, impact on natural resources or exploitation of people; changing or adding functions in the value chain; and improving coordination between actors in the value chain and promoting gender equality and sustainable development.