Egyptian women only own 6.4% of agricultural land

CAIRO – 18 July 2017: Only 6.4 percent of agricultural lands in Egypt are owned by women, which is a very small percentage compared to Tanzania, where women own 41 percent of agricultural land, President of the National Women’s Council Maya Morsi said in a meeting on Tuesday.

Morsi stressed upon the necessity of increasing the agricultural land ownership for females through a clear women empowerment policy.

The meeting was with President of the New Egyptian Rural Development Company Ater Hanoura, and was also attended by council member Marie Louis Beshara and cabinet representative Ghada Labib.

The company’s mission is implementing desert land reclamation in Egypt in accordance to a general plan, inhibiting the occurrence of any chaotic expansions and inhabitance.
The mission also includes agricultural production, logistics, marketing, manufacturing and services.

Beshara said that land reclamation would contribute in decreasing the imports of long staple cotton by allocating 10,000 feddans (1,025 acres) to cultivating long staple cotton to the west of Menya governorate. The goal is to fulfill the demands of clothing manufacturers/exporters instead of importing textiles from Asian countries.