Egyptian president gives instructions on land reclamation considering limited water resources

CAIRO – 16 November 2022: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi held a meeting Tuesday with senior officials to follow up on land reclamation projects southern the Nile Valley, getting informed on how the mission is being accomplished within Egypt's limited water share, which is just 55.5 billion cubic meters per annum.

On that front, the president instructed the cultivation of water-efficient crop species, and adoption of irrigation methods that match the type of land and climate in each area. That is in addition to increasing reliance on agricultural wastewater treated to be re-used.

Chief of International Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Saad Moussa stated in a phone-in Tuesday that Egypt targets to reclaim 3.5-4 million feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 square meters) in the coming three years.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) released a report in August on land reclamation in 2020/2021, indicating that its size grew by 7.5 percent from 81,000 feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 square meters) in 2019/2020 to 87,000 feddans.

The share of the private sector in reclaimed land is 96.8 percent (84,400 feddans), while two percent (1,800 feddans) and 1.2 percent (1,000 feddans) belong to cooperatives and the General Authority for Reconstruction and Agricultural Development.

As for the Million and Half Feddans Reclamation Project, the progress rate rose to 512,000 feddans in 2020/2021 up from 197,000 feddans in 2019/2020, jumping 38 percent.

However, the surface area that actually got cultivated became140,000 feddans in 2020/2021 up from 115,000 in 2019/2020 with a growth of 21.7 percent.

A portion of reclaimed land nationwide houses animal and dairy production enterprises. Those declined by 24.9 percent to be 136,000 feddans down from 181,000 feddans.