ASWAN, Egypt – Egyptian Agriculture Minister el-Sayyed el-Quseir asserted food security file is a top priority to the Egyptian State, given the fact that the country seeks to provide food by local production and strategic stockpiles as well as securing sources of importation at suitable prices to all.
The State is also keen on having healthy and safe production and maintaining sustainability of resources, Quseir added in remarks Thursday morning marking at the start of the wheat harvest season in Toshka in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan with President Sisi attending.
The minister pointed out that world countries are facing several crises that take their toll on food security, referring to Covid-19 crisis and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
That underlines the need to double efforts to achieve food security to all people at large, according to him.
Food insecurity is not a pure economic agricultural problem, but it has now become a strategic political issue that has to do with national and regional security, added Quseir.
The agriculture sector in Egypt is key to national economy, as it is mainly contributing to providing food for citizens, promoting food industries, Gross Domestic Product rates and agricultural exports, in addition to offering more job chances, he noted.
El-Quseir said Sisi has prioritised the sector of agriculture to back its vital role on supporting the national economy.
The total cultivated area amounts to 9.7 million feddans contributing to backing 15 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and some 17 per cent of agricultural exports.
The state has set strategic goals under Egypt Vision 2030 to support food security, achieve sustainable development, bridge agricultural gap, create new integrated agricultural societies and protect economic agricultural resources, the minister said.
He shed light on the most prominent projects aiming to achieve food security, noting that the state works on expanding in these projects and achieving the future vision of sustainable agricultural development.
El-Quseir highlighted praise given by international institutions for the Egyptian agricultural sector in reports released in March.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the state invested in upgrading local agriculture.
The wheat-cultivated area this year was 3.6 million feddans; an increase of some 450,000 feddans compared with 2020 and about 250,000 feddans compared with 2021.
The expected production of the cultivated area is some 10 million tons, the minister said, stressing that Egypt has now sufficient strategic stock of wheat.
The state has taken several mechanisms to support wheat harvest this year and encourage farmers to supply wheat to counter the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
