Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk said on Saturday that food security and rural development are at the top of Egypt's national priorities, with the government pursuing an integrated strategy combining large-scale land reclamation with higher productivity driven by scientific research and digital technology.
The strategy aims to boost value-added, increase self-sufficiency and narrow the food import gap while ensuring access to safe food at affordable prices, Farouk said in remarks to the Middle East News Agency (MENA). He said Egypt had undertaken some of its largest land reclamation projects to expand agricultural production, including the 2.2 million-feddan New Delta project, the 1.1 million-feddan Toshka project, a 456,000-feddan development project in North and Central Sinai, the 1.5 million-feddan New Egyptian Countryside project and projects covering 650,000 feddans in Upper Egypt and the New Valley.
To support the expansion, the government has also launched tertiary treatment plants for agricultural wastewater, including Al-Hamam with a capacity of 7.5 million cubic metres per day, Bahr Al-Baqar with 5.6 million cubic metres and Al-Mahsama with 1.3 million cubic metres, he said.
Egypt is also expanding seawater desalination and modern irrigation systems to improve water-use efficiency. Farouk said 18 agricultural development clusters had been established in Sinai, including 11 in the north and seven in the south, benefiting more than 2,100 families.
Each beneficiary received five feddans and a house, while three integrated agricultural service centres were established to support the new communities. The government has also focused on border and Bedouin areas by drilling wells, establishing solar power stations and combating desertification, while providing subsidised seeds for strategic crops such as wheat, barley and fava beans and distributing olive, fig and palm seedlings, he said.
Under the Decent Life initiative, the Agriculture Ministry has established 332 agricultural service complexes in 20 governorates, comprising 996 facilities including veterinary units, extension centres, agricultural cooperatives and milk collection centres, at a cost of more than 2 billion Egyptian pounds.
Farouk said Egypt was also seeking to raise agricultural productivity through contract farming, which provides farmers with a guaranteed price before planting and links them directly with factories and companies while supplying certified seeds and technical support.
These measures have contributed to an unprecedented increase in wheat production, he said. Egypt-China Joint Communiqué on the further deepening of their comprehensive strategic partnership The 12th All Africa University Games (Cairo 2026) Old Kingdom tomb discovered at Egypt’s Saqqara necropolis