21 December 2012
ALTHOUGH the agricultural sector is the main source of food for Egypt's growing population, provides raw materials for its local industries and employs more than a quarter of Egypt's total workforce, it faces serious challenges, particularly shortages of land and water. These problems pre-existed the revolution and were augmented after. The lack of law and order led to many violations of the law prohibiting construction on fertile land.
Egypt has nine million feddans (3.69 million hectares) of agricultural land occupying just 3.7 per cent of the country's land area. Fine weather helps in cultivating different kinds of crops, including cotton, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Yet Egypt is a major importer of cereal crops. It is the world's largest buyer of wheat, as domestic supply cannot meet demand. Imports account for some 40 per cent of total consumption.
To cut down on imports there have been efforts to increase local production throughout the past two years.
These efforts have begun to bear fruit. Domestic wheat output rose 17 per cent to 8.3 million tonnes in 2010/2011 compared to 7.1 million tonnes in 2009/2010. Aggregate cereal production in 2011 was around 22.3 million tonnes, up 9.3 per cent on the previous year. This is attributed to an increase in the area allocated to these crops, use of better seeds and payment of higher delivery prices to farmers.
But Egypt is also an exporter of agricultural goods. Citrus products are Egypt's largest agricultural export earning the country around $1 billion annually. Egypt is ranked seventh in the world for orange production (with 2.4 million tonnes) worth $464 million, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
However, agricultural exports have been negatively affected by the revolution. Some foreign buyers have become more reluctant to make payments before delivery for fear that unrest in the country could cut off supply. And some agricultural investors are also holding off on starting new projects or expanding new ones until the political situation clarifies.
Meanwhile, small farmers are complaining that they are not supported by the government. They buy raw materials such as fertilisers and seeds at international prices but they are not permitted to sell their products, particularly strategic crops (cotton, wheat, corn and wheat) at global rates. They also suffer from shortages of water for irrigation and fuel needed for machinery.
Farmers' problems have reflected on the agricultural sector's performance leading to a modest contribution to Egypt's total GDP. In 2006/2007 the sector's contribution to GDP was 6.5 per cent and in 2009/2010 it reached 9.2 per cent compared to 13 and 20 per cent contribution by the industrial sector in those two years.
In 2010/2011 the agricultural sector's contribution to GDP was up to 18 per cent for no virtue of its own but only due to deterioration in the performance of other sectors.
Efforts to increase supply, particularly through enhancing productivity and developing major desert projects, are underway. The government's annual economic and social plan is targeting an increase in total investments in the agricultural sector from LE5.1 billion in 2011/2012 to 12.4 billion in 2012/2013, as well as adding 1.2 million feddans to cultivated lands by 2017 and to reach 3.4 million feddans by 2022.
However, experts believe that the agricultural plan can never be achieved because Egypt faces imminent water shortages. Egypt's annual quota of River Nile water is 55 billion cubic metre of water, of which 48 to 50 billion is used in cultivating the current area estimated at eight million feddans. Experts believed that Egypt needs a properly integrated master plan that would both set a long-term strategy for the entire sector and delineate different organisational tasks and responsibilities more clearly.
ALTHOUGH the agricultural sector is the main source of food for Egypt's growing population, provides raw materials for its local industries and employs more than a quarter of Egypt's total workforce, it faces serious challenges, particularly shortages of land and water. These problems pre-existed the revolution and were augmented after. The lack of law and order led to many violations of the law prohibiting construction on fertile land.
Egypt has nine million feddans (3.69 million hectares) of agricultural land occupying just 3.7 per cent of the country's land area. Fine weather helps in cultivating different kinds of crops, including cotton, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Yet Egypt is a major importer of cereal crops. It is the world's largest buyer of wheat, as domestic supply cannot meet demand. Imports account for some 40 per cent of total consumption.
To cut down on imports there have been efforts to increase local production throughout the past two years.
These efforts have begun to bear fruit. Domestic wheat output rose 17 per cent to 8.3 million tonnes in 2010/2011 compared to 7.1 million tonnes in 2009/2010. Aggregate cereal production in 2011 was around 22.3 million tonnes, up 9.3 per cent on the previous year. This is attributed to an increase in the area allocated to these crops, use of better seeds and payment of higher delivery prices to farmers.
But Egypt is also an exporter of agricultural goods. Citrus products are Egypt's largest agricultural export earning the country around $1 billion annually. Egypt is ranked seventh in the world for orange production (with 2.4 million tonnes) worth $464 million, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
However, agricultural exports have been negatively affected by the revolution. Some foreign buyers have become more reluctant to make payments before delivery for fear that unrest in the country could cut off supply. And some agricultural investors are also holding off on starting new projects or expanding new ones until the political situation clarifies.
Meanwhile, small farmers are complaining that they are not supported by the government. They buy raw materials such as fertilisers and seeds at international prices but they are not permitted to sell their products, particularly strategic crops (cotton, wheat, corn and wheat) at global rates. They also suffer from shortages of water for irrigation and fuel needed for machinery.
Farmers' problems have reflected on the agricultural sector's performance leading to a modest contribution to Egypt's total GDP. In 2006/2007 the sector's contribution to GDP was 6.5 per cent and in 2009/2010 it reached 9.2 per cent compared to 13 and 20 per cent contribution by the industrial sector in those two years.
In 2010/2011 the agricultural sector's contribution to GDP was up to 18 per cent for no virtue of its own but only due to deterioration in the performance of other sectors.
Efforts to increase supply, particularly through enhancing productivity and developing major desert projects, are underway. The government's annual economic and social plan is targeting an increase in total investments in the agricultural sector from LE5.1 billion in 2011/2012 to 12.4 billion in 2012/2013, as well as adding 1.2 million feddans to cultivated lands by 2017 and to reach 3.4 million feddans by 2022.
However, experts believe that the agricultural plan can never be achieved because Egypt faces imminent water shortages. Egypt's annual quota of River Nile water is 55 billion cubic metre of water, of which 48 to 50 billion is used in cultivating the current area estimated at eight million feddans. Experts believed that Egypt needs a properly integrated master plan that would both set a long-term strategy for the entire sector and delineate different organisational tasks and responsibilities more clearly.
© Al Ahram Weekly 2012
