Economists who spoke to “Sky News Arabia” believe that this new Egyptian step is important to protect Egypt from 3 global crises, which are the repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change, and the Corona epidemic, which caused disruption to grain shipments, especially wheat, which Egypt is one of its largest importers. .
According to the director of the Egypt’s Future Project for Agricultural Production, Bahaa El-Ghannam, the investment cost and working capital of the project will reach 133 billion pounds by the end of 2024, while President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi estimated the cost of planting an acre between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds per acre, commenting: “These are prices from Three years, meaning one million acres. Countries fear 250 billion pounds today.”
Details of “The Future of Egypt”
Abdel Ghaffar Al-Salamouni, Vice President of the Chamber of Grain Industry in the Federation of Egyptian Industries, says that Egypt relies a lot on the two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine, in managing its needs of wheat and sunflower oil, in addition to the two countries’ contribution to a significant percentage of tourism income. Therefore, it was necessary to seek self-sufficiency projects.
The “Egypt’s Future” project for agricultural production is located in the Western Desert on reclaimed lands with an area of about 1.5 million feddans, and aims to meet Egypt’s needs for strategic crops, especially wheat.
The project includes 3 operational phases, starting with grain storage silos, seed stations, soil analysis laboratories, and refrigerators for preserving vegetables. The second phase includes projects for freezing fruits, factories for dried onions and garlic, packing and packaging of legumes, edible oils and livestock feed, while the third phase includes a sugar factory, And another for the production of oils, sorting and packaging of oranges.
Multiple benefits
Adel Zeidan, head of the Association of Investors of the Million and a Half Million Feddan Project, expressed his optimism about the “Future of Egypt” project, considering the name bears an important significance because of its importance to achieving Egypt’s food security.
In terms of investment profits, Zeidan pointed out that agricultural investment has a rewarding return, as it provides returns of at least 24 percent of the project’s capital, especially as it accommodates fish farming projects, livestock and poultry breeding, fodder industry, oil refining and packaging, and others.
Egypt’s agricultural exports recorded 5.6 million tons in 2021, with a value exceeding $3 billion, supported by the rise in exports of citrus fruits, potatoes, onions, strawberries, fodder beets, beans, potatoes, pomegranates, guavas, peppers, garlic, watermelons, and mangoes, which increased Of the proceeds of Egypt’s non-oil merchandise exports to reach 31 billion dollars during the year 2021.
Al-Salamouni points out the importance of previous agricultural projects in alleviating the global crises on Egypt, such as the project to plant one and a half million acres, and the legality of the cultivation of Toshka and the new delta, which was reflected in an increase in local production of wheat, corn, rice and other strategic crops, and a decrease in the demand for foreign exchange. And achieving a remarkable development in Egypt’s agricultural exports.
The doubling of Egypt’s storage capacity of silos during the last 7 years has strengthened the state’s ability to provide commodity stocks for several months to protect the country from the fluctuations of commodities in global markets, according to Al-Salamouni.
Egypt aims to increase the area planted with the wheat crop by 1.5 million feddans during the next three years, while the productivity of one feddan is estimated at 3 tons.
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