Egypt’s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Hani Sweilam, met on Sunday the members of the National Alliance for Civil Action for Development, a grouping of Egypt’s largest NGOs, to discuss coordination.
The minister highlighted the importance of coordination and co-operation with the civil society, especiallywhen it comes to Ezraa, an initiative launched by the Ministry of Irrigation in November last year to encourage farmers to expand the space cultivated with wheat across Egypt.
“This co-operation and coordination will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and enhancing Egypt’s ability to make optimal management of water resources,” Minister Sweilam said.
He noted that the same cooperation would advance national efforts to achieve food security and support the farmers.
He pointed to efforts by his ministry to raise awareness among farmers about modern irrigation techniques.
The ministerpraised the role played by the alliance in supporting development projects, especially projects to modernize irrigation systems.
These projects, the minister said, would open the door for improving the living standards of the farmers.
The minister noted that the national water projects currently implemented aim to maximize returns from the amounts of water available and serve the best interests of the farmers.
He underscored the importance of switching to modern irrigation systems.
Modern irrigation, the minister said, will lead to many positive gains, including increasing crop productivity, improving the quality of crops produced, raising the export potential, raising the efficiency of field irrigation and increasing yields from water and farmland.
