The Egyptian state has launched several initiatives to achieve food security, foremost of which is the Decent Life presidential project, Egypt’s Ambassador to Italy Bassam Radi said.
Addressing a meeting of UN Food and Agriculture Orgainsation (FAO) in Rome on Wednesday, Radi noted that this presidential initiative, launched in early 2019, is considered the project of the century in Egypt as it aims to provide a better life for more than half the country’s population.
He said that the Decent Life initiative for rural development is an unprecedented achievement for Egypt. He said “the Egyptian countryside will be developed in three years’ time.”
The initiative aims at improving standards of living, infrastructure, and services and targets 58 per cent of Egypt’s 104-million population, who live in 4,658 villages across the country.
Radi said that this project also aims to develop all aspects of life, including agriculture, water, livestock breeding, fertiliser quality, and support for small and medium enterprises. It also covers the economic support provided to small farmers at a cost exceeding about LE700 billion (roughly $30 billion).
He pointed out that this initiative comes at a time when the world is facing economic crises and Egypt has gone through very harsh conditions during the past 10 years. He added that the Egyptian government has taken a raft of economic reform measures to reinvigorate the local economy. This, in turn, helped Egypt overcome the negative repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
Despite all the current challenges, Egypt hosts more than 6 million people of different nationalities who enjoy all basic rights like Egyptians. He stressed that “this comes from a humanitarian and moral perspective adopted by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.”
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