20 May 2017, Cairo -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) published recently a study which looks into agricultural policies, trade and sustainable development in Egypt.

In their joint foreword, Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz Chief Executive, ICTSD and Abdessalam Ould Ahmed Deputy Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa noted that achieving the 2030 sustainability agenda and its goals “will require action in all countries and world regions to improve the functioning of global markets for food and agriculture, including through measures to improve environmental sustainability.”

They noted that “the challenges and opportunities that Egypt’s farm sector faces in the years ahead provide important insights to other low-income, food-importing countries as they seek to identify ways to allocate resources as efficiently, sustainably and equitably as possible, while taking into account new market trends and regulatory frameworks affecting food and agriculture.”

They considered that this study represents “a significant contribution to the emerging debate on how policies affecting food and agricultural markets can contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in Egypt, the broader region and also beyond.”

This study, prepared by Panos Konandreas (an independent consultant) and Isin Tellioglu (Economist at FAO RNE), provides impartial, evidence-based assessment of the extent to which Egypt’s farm trade policies can best contribute to achieving economic, social and environmental objectives, including those relating to food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

The researchers looked at the challenges facing food production and the resulting food import dependency, the scarcity of agricultural land and water resources, coupled with weak infrastructure, as well as deficiencies in the design of specific intervention policies such as the long-standing universal food consumption subsidies.

They noted that agricultural policies in Egypt have always revolved around two main objectives: i) providing adequate basic foodstuffs for the population, ii) providing adequate incomes and employment to the sizable population employed in the agricultural sector.

However, the study found the many advantages which would help Egypt meet its food deficit: a unique climate, ecology and location.

The authors noted the Egypt has the potential for increasing production and exports of selected high value produce—especially fresh fruit and vegetables (grapes, oranges, dates, cabbage, and green beans among others) and aromatic plants.

They analyzed constraining factors which hinder the production and exports of Egyptian oranges and grapes compared to its major competitors.   

They concluded that growing fresh fruit and vegetables would support sustainable use of natural resources due to their higher economic value and lower water requirements.

They suggested improving infrastructure, market intelligence, introducing modern production techniques, as well as negotiating new trade agreements for exporting high value crops, instead of focusing on low economic value cereals.

Looking into Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy Towards 2030, and its set milestones, it is clear that the modest progress towards production targets so far suggests that the dependency on imports in basic food stuffs will persist. At the same time, tapping the potential exportable production in high value crops remains a challenge.