Summary:
Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) is the
product of the world’s first selective breeding
programme for tropical fish, and has become a template
for genetically improving other aquaculture species. The
GIFT strain of Nile tilapia grows quickly and survives well,
dramatically increasing aquaculture yields. Between 1990
and 2007, tilapia production in the Philippines expanded
by 186 per cent, while production costs fell by 32-35 per
cent. The Asian Development Bank found in 2003 that GIFT and GIFT-derived strains
accounted for 68 per cent of tilapia seed produced in the Philippines and, in the same year,
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared tilapia the up-and-coming “food of the masses”.
The introduction and dissemination of GIFT have generated significant rural incomes and
employment, and contributed to human nutrition, especially among the poor, as tilapia is a
relatively low-priced fish. Tilapia farming provides an attractive livelihood for hatchery
operators and fish farmers and the contribution of GIFT to employment generation has been
significant, including for poor smallscale farmers. As many new fish farmers are women, this
empowers them while improving local supplies of high-quality, affordable protein, providing
an income and benefiting the nutrition of the household.