GIFT yields higher volume, grows faster, has firmer flesh and even tastes better than other tilapia strains.
Finding accessible and sustainable sources of protein is critical for communities on the front lines of climate change that are most likely to experience hunger. Fish are affordable, provide essential nutrients and emit less greenhouse gas per unit of protein than livestock, making them a key solution to the interconnected climate and hunger crises.
Tilapia is a naturally hardy fish, which is why CGIAR researchers at WorldFish started the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) project in 1988. The selective breeding project aims to create faster-growing, more disease-resistant varieties of tilapia that can be produced in stressful environments due to the impact of climate change. These new varieties of fish are a sustainable source of income, food and nutrition for smallholder farmers and their families.
Evangeline Marco, a 67-year-old fish farmer from the Philippines, reports that GIFT yields higher volume, grows faster, has firmer flesh and even tastes better than other tilapia strains she’s tried.
Today, more than half of the tilapia produced in the world are GIFT and its derivatives – making it the gift that keeps on giving for farmers and their families. Investments in aquaculture projects like GIFT can help alleviate poverty, enhance nutrition, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support communities to adapt to climate change – making the world healthier for all.
Find out more about Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT).
