Egypt food security in wake of climate change and water scarcity.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt’s agriculture sector annually consumes more than 85% of the country’s share of Nile water.
With the completion of GERD, it would be able to hold around 74bn cubic metres of water.
Which is defined as the integration of conventional aquaculture (captive rearing and production of fish and other aquatic animal) with soil-less culture (growing agricultural crops without soil) according to the United Nations’ (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
A tank of fish turns fish feed into waste, and the water is then pumped out of the fish tank onto growing beds where bacteria then converts the ammonia and other fish wastes into fertilisers the plants make use of.
There is a symbiotic relationship is clear as fish contributes to plant nutrition, while plants provide oxygen and cleans the water for fish.
This helps plants grow faster and more naturally compared to planting on soil.
During the experiment, the same water within the closed system was used without change for more than 10 years, without any effect on the quality of the fish or plant growth.
Aquaponic systems are expensive, as the owner must install a full aquaculture system and a hydroponic system.
However, these inputs can be reduced by using solar panels or any other renewable electricity source, fish feed production, fish breeding, and plant propagation, but these tasks require additional knowledge and add time to the daily management.