Call for cultivating coffee, tea in Egypt to reduce imports

CAIRO-17 October 2022: A member of the Egyptian House of Representatives submitted a proposal to domestically plant coffee and tea in Egypt to reduce importation as Egypt is one of the top three Arab countries consuming these commodities.

Ayman Mohsab submitted a proposal to the Advisor, Dr. Hanafi Jabali, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the cultivation of tropical crops, such as coffee and tea in Egypt, to reduce their imports and consequently reduce their costs, Al Dostor newspaper reported.

It is worth mentioning, Egypt imported tea for about $18.2 million in October 2021, compared to $16.715 million over the same period in 2020, according to data issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in January 2022.

In the period between January and October 2021, Egyptians drank tea for $190.53 million, the CAPMAS added in a report, of which Al-Watan newspaper has a copy.

Egypt annually consumes about 85,000 tons of tea, estimated at about LE 6 billion, (about US $ 382,5), Ahmed Al-Banna, a member of the Egyptian General Organization For Export & Import Control, was quoted as saying by Al Masr Al Mal News in March 2020.

Regarding coffee, Egypt imports 100% of coffee, said head of the Coffee Division at the Chamber of Commerce Hassan Fawzy in December 2021, noting that cultivating coffee in Egypt is not suitable for due to its climate.

The consumption rate reaches 65,000 tons annually, he said in January 2022.