The International Cooperation Office of the Embassy of Switzerland, the WorldFish Center and CARE International, in coordination with the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry, launched a new project which aims to increase the production of safe and nutritious fish using inexpensive farming methods.
The project is called the "Sustainable Transformation of Egypt's Aquaculture Market System".
The project, according to a statement by the Swiss Embassy issued on Wednesday, aims to promote the participation of low-income people in the aquaculture sector, which is a rapidly growing field in Egypt, which would afford safe, nutritious and inexpensive fish.
Fish is an effective and nutricious means to address the high rates of stunt growth children, the lack of vitamins and minerals, as well as malnutrition and obesity, according to the statement.
The project, which will last for three years, aims to achieve a direct benefit for 44,750 people and indirect benefit for 3.9 million people. The project is supposed to benefit fish farmers, traders and wholesalers in seven provinces, namely: Kafr al-Sheikh, Beheira, Sharqiya, Fayoum, Port Said, Minya and Beni Suef, with a budget of 2 million Swiss francs, said the statement.
The project works on three main axes: the training of fish farmers to adopt the best management practices in aquaculture and increase their chances of catching the Nile tilapia, encouraging the practice of fish farming activity in new geographical areas with a focus on small-scale integrative systems and improving marketing systems for aquaculture products through the support of the fish vendors and providing necessary information to them.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
