Egypt implements strategic plan to improve food security

CAIRO – August 12, 2024: The Egyptian government is working to increase stocks of strategic crops in the coming years as part of its national program submitted to and approved by Parliament.

The government has stressed that strategic crops such as wheat, rice, maize, beans and others are fundamental to food security. These crops are considered essential foodstuffs and therefore the government has included a programme to increase stocks of strategic crops in its national agenda.

To achieve this goal, the government has outlined several measures:

Achieving self-sufficiency in wheat:

The government plans to boost agricultural production through the use of technologies, reduce wheat loss by maintaining the silo system, continue to build new silos to accommodate increased wheat cultivation, and implement modern irrigation and drainage system strategies to preserve soil fertility and increase the productivity of strategic crops.

Create additional incentives for farmers:

The government will provide additional incentives to farmers to encourage wheat cultivation and thus ensure higher wheat supplies. It will also increase the number of contract crops and guarantee a minimum price in line with world market prices before the planting season, with agricultural cooperatives involved in pricing.

In addition, the government plans to continue the national vegetable seed production program to increase Egypt’s capacity to produce vegetable seeds domestically rather than having to import them. The government will also maximize the benefits of favorable financing from Egypt’s development partners for projects such as grain silos and the provision of strategic commodities such as wheat.

Increase in agricultural area:

The Government aims to expand agricultural area through horizontal expansion by adding new areas based on available resources and through vertical expansion by developing high-yielding crop varieties, adopting modern agricultural practices, expanding protected agriculture and implementing national desert reclamation programs to support food security.

In addition, the government will further develop the agricultural land use rights system by creating a comprehensive database of landowners across the country and a geographical database of farms to regulate cultivated land and ensure that government support for fertilizers and inputs reaches those who are entitled to it.

Promoting green communities and sustainable agriculture:

The government will continue to monitor the implementation of green communities and integrated sustainable agriculture to make optimal use of available resources (water, land, energy) for food production. The government also intends to maximize the use of low-interest financing from development partners in desert land reclamation to increase agricultural land area.

Improving the agricultural investment climate:

The Egyptian government attaches great importance to improving the investment climate in the agricultural sector and supporting investors in the agricultural sector and related activities. This includes increasing the efficiency of idle or under-utilized assets and improving services for Egyptian farmers at all levels.

Key targeted measures include updating legislation that promotes market mechanisms and the dissemination of sustainable agricultural practices, simplifying procedures for allocating new land by establishing a unified administrative system representing all relevant entities, reviewing procedures for allocating and owning new land, and supporting secure land use rights through the issuance of extended title certificates and long-term leases. The government will also review credit and loan policies related to agriculture and its projects.

Improving the quality of agricultural products:

To increase agricultural production and increase agricultural exports, it is crucial to keep pace with modern technologies and maintain quality standards. Key target measures include maintaining quality standards in accordance with agricultural product specifications, improving the technical efficiency of laboratories and requiring them to comply with accreditation standards, introducing advanced global technologies to support and improve the economic efficiency of agricultural production, strengthening the competitiveness of agricultural products in local and international markets, and continuing to implement the 2030 Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy with a focus on the application of modern technologies.

Promotion of agricultural research and practice:

In addition, the Government gives the highest priority to promoting agricultural research and practice, recognizing that applied scientific research is a cornerstone for making optimal use of land and water resources and increasing productivity to ensure food security.

The government is making major efforts to improve agricultural research and practice by promoting agricultural research and development through accreditation systems, collaborating with other research centers, creating partnerships between the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives to provide extension services, issuing policies on incentives to encourage the private sector to provide reliable advice to farmers, improving agricultural extension services, supporting women leaders in rural areas, and improving the human resource system through the development of agricultural technical education and higher education, and through training and capacity building to support sustainable and organic agricultural practices.