Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) for sustainable intensification of the small holder horticulture sector in Egypt
Egypt is considered as food secure country. However, low per capita income, compounded by the uneven distribution of national income, paves the way for poverty and the occurrence of undernourishment is very much related to poverty. The prevalence of poverty in Egypt is estimated to be 17 percent of the population. That amounts to roughly 11 million people, who are estimated to fall below the poverty line of US$1 per day.
Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) for sustainable intensification of the small holder horticulture sector in Egypt
Egypt is considered as food secure country. However, low per capita income, compounded by the uneven distribution of national income, paves the way for poverty and the occurrence of undernourishment is very much related to poverty. The prevalence of poverty in Egypt is estimated to be 17 percent of the population. That amounts to roughly 11 million people, who are estimated to fall below the poverty line of US$1 per day. At a poverty benchmark of US$2 per day, it is estimated that 20 percent of the Egyptian population is considered poor. Poor households are highly dependent on the household head’s income generating activities. The causes and effects of poverty are reflected in a number of socio-economic indicators characterizing the countryside, one of which is related to arable land endowment. The per capita agricultural land in rural areas is hardly 4.9 carats. The impoverishing effect of this very low average is largely accentuated by unequal distribution of this land. Almost 70 percent of total landowners possess less than one feddan. The property of 94 percent of landowners is, on the average, less than four feddan each. One-half of total cultivated land belongs to the owners falling in this bracket while the other half is owned by only 10 percent of the total number of landowners. Wages in the agricultural sector have always been considerably low and are only half the national average.
In this context of predominant small holder farms, the Government of Egypt has decided to value the full potential of horticulture. Horticulture is expected to further expand in Egypt since pro-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables is still relatively low as compared to the WHO recommendations which prone a minimum daily intake of 400 grams. At the same time, Egypt has a high population growth rate. Its population in 2008 is estimated at 80 million and with the current growth rate of an additional 2 million people per year, it can double in the next 30 years. The population growth, combined with higher consumption levels, is expected to lead to increased demand. This represents at the same time an opportunity and a challenge for the small holder horticulture sector, which represents about 90% of the horticulture farms.
Export is mostly in hands of large scale commercial farms which draw on international expertise. They are operated by professional agriculture specialists and business managers. These farms have marketing connections overseas and are certified for major commercial GAP protocols. The products are of high quality, responding to international standards, they are packed locally in Egypt, in boxes with the name of the client, and have traceability labels. There is an opportunity for the small holder horticulture farmers to gain shares of the export markets. Unfortunately, the small holder horticulture production sector has not kept pace with the recent technological developments in terms of water use efficiency at field level and the application of integrated production en protection management (IPP), as the backbone of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP). In addition, the lack of planning and scattered yields of small quantities makes marketing negotiations difficult. Further more, since the small holders usually don’t have adequate packing or storage facilities, their products quickly loose quality after harvest.
The Government wants to promote greenhouses cultivation, for the various advantages it offers in terms of production planning, water saving for irrigation, pest and diseases control, crop intensification and diversification. Greenhouse cultivation is best suited for high water use efficiency, production planning and high return per unit area. Egypt has developed over the last few years a sizeable protected cultivation industry. The protected cultivation sector can produce a large range of crops, predominantly vegetables (cucumber, sweet and hot pepper, green beans, cantaloupe melon, strawberries), but also flowers (roses, carnations, chrysanthemum) and more recently fruit crops (dwarf mango, citrus, grapes). Protected cultivation is practiced both for local consumption as well as for export.
Unfortunately, the predominant greenhouse type is a walk-in plastic covered tunnel, with an average size of about 500 square meters, with minimal technology. Since they are not insect proof nor properly ventilated, biological control cannot be efficiently applied and leading to a high and excessive use of pesticides. In these type of greenhouses the crop and irrigation management are still very poor resulting in limited productivity and often poor product quality.
For these different reasons, the small holder horticulture sector is at risk of loosing its competitiveness with a consequent loss in jobs and income for a large number of rural families.
There is an urgent need to disseminate the findings and recommendations related to Good Agriculture Practices and Water savings technologies in greenhouse crop production. This would allow strengthen its competitiveness and safeguard this sector as an important source of income and employment. It would allow expanding and consolidating the supply chain of safe and high quality vegetables from greenhouse crop production to the benefit of producers and consumers at large.
The project is requested to help Egypt in capitalizing on available know-how, from within Egypt and from abroad relating to GAP guidelines and water saving technologies for dissemination to small scale farmers. This would help and strengthen the competitiveness of the small scale farming sector and safeguard this sector as an important source of income and employment. It would allow expanding and consolidating the supply chain with safe and high quality vegetables for local market and export.
Therefore, this project is at the same time critical and timely. The project will allow enhancing the capabilities and developing technologies for a sustainable intensification of the small scale horticulture sector in Egypt. Over a period of 24 months, the Ministry with the help of FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme is committed to achieve the following outputs:
Output 1: GAP guidelines, training and demonstration for improved on-farm water management and water use efficiency technologies
Output 2: GAP guidelines for sustainable soil fertility management
Output 3: GAP guidelines for greenhouse crop technology: Integrated production and protection practices (IPP)
Output 4: GAP guidelines for crop diversification options
Output 5: GAP guidelines for small holder farmers’ associations
Output 6: Consolidated GAP guidelines are available and disseminated in support of intensified small holder horticulture in Egypt
The Government is putting in place a policy to provide support to the small holder farmers, through their business associations and not as individual farmers. At the completion of the project, the ARC will have increased technical capacity to monitor GAP for its dissemination and use by the small holder greenhouse farmers.
Press Release in PDF Format
In this context of predominant small holder farms, the Government of Egypt has decided to value the full potential of horticulture. Horticulture is expected to further expand in Egypt since pro-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables is still relatively low as compared to the WHO recommendations which prone a minimum daily intake of 400 grams. At the same time, Egypt has a high population growth rate. Its population in 2008 is estimated at 80 million and with the current growth rate of an additional 2 million people per year, it can double in the next 30 years. The population growth, combined with higher consumption levels, is expected to lead to increased demand. This represents at the same time an opportunity and a challenge for the small holder horticulture sector, which represents about 90% of the horticulture farms.
Export is mostly in hands of large scale commercial farms which draw on international expertise. They are operated by professional agriculture specialists and business managers. These farms have marketing connections overseas and are certified for major commercial GAP protocols. The products are of high quality, responding to international standards, they are packed locally in Egypt, in boxes with the name of the client, and have traceability labels. There is an opportunity for the small holder horticulture farmers to gain shares of the export markets. Unfortunately, the small holder horticulture production sector has not kept pace with the recent technological developments in terms of water use efficiency at field level and the application of integrated production en protection management (IPP), as the backbone of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP). In addition, the lack of planning and scattered yields of small quantities makes marketing negotiations difficult. Further more, since the small holders usually don’t have adequate packing or storage facilities, their products quickly loose quality after harvest.
The Government wants to promote greenhouses cultivation, for the various advantages it offers in terms of production planning, water saving for irrigation, pest and diseases control, crop intensification and diversification. Greenhouse cultivation is best suited for high water use efficiency, production planning and high return per unit area. Egypt has developed over the last few years a sizeable protected cultivation industry. The protected cultivation sector can produce a large range of crops, predominantly vegetables (cucumber, sweet and hot pepper, green beans, cantaloupe melon, strawberries), but also flowers (roses, carnations, chrysanthemum) and more recently fruit crops (dwarf mango, citrus, grapes). Protected cultivation is practiced both for local consumption as well as for export.
Unfortunately, the predominant greenhouse type is a walk-in plastic covered tunnel, with an average size of about 500 square meters, with minimal technology. Since they are not insect proof nor properly ventilated, biological control cannot be efficiently applied and leading to a high and excessive use of pesticides. In these type of greenhouses the crop and irrigation management are still very poor resulting in limited productivity and often poor product quality.
For these different reasons, the small holder horticulture sector is at risk of loosing its competitiveness with a consequent loss in jobs and income for a large number of rural families.
There is an urgent need to disseminate the findings and recommendations related to Good Agriculture Practices and Water savings technologies in greenhouse crop production. This would allow strengthen its competitiveness and safeguard this sector as an important source of income and employment. It would allow expanding and consolidating the supply chain of safe and high quality vegetables from greenhouse crop production to the benefit of producers and consumers at large.
The project is requested to help Egypt in capitalizing on available know-how, from within Egypt and from abroad relating to GAP guidelines and water saving technologies for dissemination to small scale farmers. This would help and strengthen the competitiveness of the small scale farming sector and safeguard this sector as an important source of income and employment. It would allow expanding and consolidating the supply chain with safe and high quality vegetables for local market and export.
Therefore, this project is at the same time critical and timely. The project will allow enhancing the capabilities and developing technologies for a sustainable intensification of the small scale horticulture sector in Egypt. Over a period of 24 months, the Ministry with the help of FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme is committed to achieve the following outputs:
Output 1: GAP guidelines, training and demonstration for improved on-farm water management and water use efficiency technologies
Output 2: GAP guidelines for sustainable soil fertility management
Output 3: GAP guidelines for greenhouse crop technology: Integrated production and protection practices (IPP)
Output 4: GAP guidelines for crop diversification options
Output 5: GAP guidelines for small holder farmers’ associations
Output 6: Consolidated GAP guidelines are available and disseminated in support of intensified small holder horticulture in Egypt
The Government is putting in place a policy to provide support to the small holder farmers, through their business associations and not as individual farmers. At the completion of the project, the ARC will have increased technical capacity to monitor GAP for its dissemination and use by the small holder greenhouse farmers.
Press Release in PDF Format
11/09/2012