Agriculture: Basic foods for all despite challenges

The limited area of arable land, water scarcity and rising population growth are the main challenges to agriculture.

Despite these challenges, the government was able to provide the public with basic foods while seeking to attain food security for all.

These statements by Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation el-Sayed el-Qoseir on the second day of the Economic Conference 2022, when he chaired a session, ‘The Roadmap Towards Maximising Agricultural Productivity and Enhancing Self-Sufficiency’.

The government has taken many proactive measures to confront the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the minister said.

Egypt is among those countries most affected by the global economic crisis and drawing up a roadmap for the economy needs us to recognise the challenges we face, the minister added.

Egypt has carried out a number of giant projects in agriculture and infrastructure to create an attractive climate for local and foreign investors, el-Qoseir said.

The minister referred to proactive measures taken by the state, which enabled it to confront the international challenges.

The government has drawn up plans to increase the amount of land under cultivation and raise crop yields per feddan (acre) to avoid food shortages, the minister said.

The government modernised the irrigation system to find non-traditional sources of water and expanded the use of smart agriculture and artificial intelligence to increase competitiveness of exports, el-Qoseir said.

The minister also said that the state has worked on the development of livestock, poultry and fisheries, in addition to upgrade storage capacities, logistics, and supply chains.

He pointed out that there is integration between sustainable agricultural development strategy with the goals of Egypt’s updated Vision 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

El-Quseir said that important measures were also taken towards structural reforms in agricultural sector, with the aim of achieving food and water security, increasing the productivity of the agricultural sector, creating new jobs and raising the incomes of small farmers.

Egypt has many incentives for investment, the most important of which is the political, economic and social stability, as well as the large size of the global markets associated with the agreements, which Egypt concluded with international powers.