Climate-Smart Agriculture Solutions for Egypt

18 April 2019. Cairo. IFPRI Seminar. “Climate-Smart Agriculture Solutions for Egypt”

Noting the efforts in the industry to produce climate-smart solutions for agriculture, IFPRI organised with the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) during the American University in Cairo’s Earth Week celebrations, this event.

As a country that juggles a dry climate, the water demands of irrigated crops, and an increasing and deeply-rooted dependence on crops irrigated by the Nile, Egypt is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Fluctuating levels in the flow of the Nile leave crops and yields at risk, especially during the summer season, while sea-level rise threatens low-lying Delta lands with increased sea water intrusion and increased salinity, resulting in lower levels of fresh water supply.

As Egypt re-writes its Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt’s Vision 2030, recognition of the risks of climate change to the Egyptian agricultural sector and to the economy in general have begun to appear in policy rhetoric. While the opportunities and challenges facing the agricultural sector in Egypt are well known, the related policy advice to address the issues is often overly general and not necessarily targeted at specific regional and farm characteristics. Such policy advice includes increasing water-use efficiency and preserving soil quality; improving input and output marketing; and linking farmers to knowledge and improved agricultural technologies.

Panelists discussed technologies and solutions being adopted in the fields at the different scales, the opportunity and challenges that facilitate or hurdle this, and how it all translates to policy

recommendations.

• Yumna Kassim, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI Egypt)
• Richard Tutwiler, The American University in Cairo (AUC)
• Ajit Govind (see picture), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
  PPT Presentation forthcoming
• Representative, Ministry of Environment or Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
• Assem Sa’eed, Owner of hydroponic and aquaponic farms
• Nicolas Tremblay, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• Waleed Hassan, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

ICARDA Interview with professor Ahmed Abdellatif Elkhoudy – Professor of Plant Ecology – Desert Research Center about: Cultivating plans in saline soils and making a business

Professor Ahmed Abdellatif Elkhoudy answers following questions: 

• Which plants can be used in saline soils? 
• Do you have additional examples? 
• How did you involve farmers and their link to markets?

ICARDA Interview with Assem Sa’eed, Owner of hydroponic and aquaponic farms: Al Youmna Hydro Farms and AL YOUMNA FRUITS.
Al Youmna is a leading company in growing and exporting fresh crops. It is exporting different varieties of agricultural products and have a wealth of experience in farming, preparing, packing and exporting. The slogan of  Al Youmna is “Where Promise is Delivered” is a reflection of their vision and the action plan is made to achieve the goal which has always been a long term cooperative relationship with each of our customers by providing direct and excellent customer service.

– video interview forthcoming

Related:
20-21 April 2019. “Enhancing Sustainable Agriculture”. Institute of National Planning (INP)

Second day: Sustainable management of water resources.

• Chair: H.E. Mahmoud Abu-Zeid (Former Minister Water Resources and Irrigation, President Arab Water Council)
• Pasquale Steduto (FAO) see picture Water Scarcity: Establishing a framework for action towards water sustainability 
• Amgad Elmahdi (IWMI) The water supply-demand gap is widening fast: How to revert this trend? 
• Bisher Imam (UNESCO)
• Atef Swelam (ICARDA) 
• Ebel Smidt (EU Water STARS)
• Sikandra Kurdi, Associate Research Fellow, IFPRI Egypt

The government of Egypt is now revising both strategies (water and Ag.) and developing a unified strategy on water and Agriculture among all other sectors led by the Ministry of planning. It will be launched on Tuesday April 23rd.

ICARDA Interview with Ebel Smidt (EU Water STARS) – video interview forthcoming

The EU Water Sector Technical Assistance and Reforms Support (EU Water STARS) is a thirty months project, funded by the European Union. EU water STARS aims to support the institutional reform of water resources sector in Egypt and to improve the management and use of water resources by improving the operational efficiencies of concerned stakeholders and beneficiaries.