CAIRO – Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Alaa Farouk highlighted the political leaderhip’s directives to enhance cooperation with Nigeria, and to provide and transfer expertise, especially in the agricultural field.
He expounded that this contributes to achieving sustainable agricultural development and food security at the continental level.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi, and a high-level delegation from Nigeria.
The talks tackled ways to strengthen bilateral relations and expand the scope of cooperation in the agricultural sector between the two sides.
The meeting was attended by Baboucarr Manneh, the Director General of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice).
Farouk pointed to the ministry’s readiness to provide and transfer all available expertise to the Nigerian side, indicating that the cooperation includes many activities and fields related to the agricultural sector.
He highlighted the importance of encouraging the private sector on both sides to establish joint agricultural projects, serving the food security strategies of both countries and the African continent.
Within Egypt’s interest in providing all forms of technical support to its brothers, an Egyptian technical delegation of experts from the Agricultural Research Center can be sent to Nigeria to review the current situation regarding the agricultural sector in detail and prepare a roadmap for the Nigerian side, especially concerning achieving food security and maximizing agricultural production of strategic crops, particularly cotton and sugar beet.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian delegation welcomed the Egyptian minister’s initiative to provide technical support and send the experts’ delegation.
The Nigerian team asserted its interest in benefiting from Egyptian expertise, especially regarding updating irrigation systems, rationalizing water use, as well as cultivating strategic crops, particularly rice and sugar beet, with a focus on Egyptian expertise in improving breeds and increasing animal productivity.
