Egypt: Sustainable agriculture in the desert, a lighthouse or a mirage
Egypt
Published May 21, 2021
Tridge summary
Groundwater under the desert is a finite resource. How long can it last? Two, three generations or more than a century? How can that time be used to make optimal use of this water, to create work and income, to learn about sustainable, water-efficient agriculture and to build up human capital? They are experimenting and investing in the Wahat farm of Sekem in the Western Desert of Egypt. The aim is to achieve as much sustainability gains as possible before the water runs out. Paradoxical or inspiring? During a field visit, embassy staff got an impression.
Water is scarce in Egypt. The country is more than 95% dependent on the Nile for its water supply. At the same time, the population of the most populous country in the Middle East and North Africa is growing by about 2 million people a year, relying on agriculture to provide food, jobs and export income. Traditionally, agriculture has mainly taken place in the Nile Delta and a narrow fertile strip of land in the Nile Valley. For generations Egypt has had the ambition to expand the agricultural area by reclaiming land in the desert. For example, President Sisi has called for the acquisition of 1.5 million feddan (approximately 600,000 hectares) as a first step towards 2 million hectares.
Original content
Greening the desert Since the 1990s, the number of commercial farms operating in the desert has grown significantly. Such companies are an engine for exports and employment. In particular, the export of vegetables, fruit, aromatic and medicinal plants is largely dependent on production in these "new countries". As a result, Egypt has recently become the largest exporter of oranges worldwide. But the supply of products such as potatoes, barley and dairy for the local processing industry, with companies such as Farm Frites, Al Ahram / Heineken and Danone, also depend on this. This often concerns areas along the Nile and the Delta, where they have access to Nile water via irrigation channels or the groundwater-carrying layer along the river. But in many cases, companies make use of non-renewable groundwater through wells. In some areas this has already led to the depletion or salinization of resources. Sekem is a special case of a company that farms in the desert. The basis for this ...
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