Agriculture Min. aims to eliminate impact of climate change

CAIRO – 5 April 2018: The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation adopted a number of applicable measures on Saturday to eliminate the impact of climate change on agricultural land and crop production.

The ministry recommended expanding the cultivation of water-conscious crops such as quinoa, which needs much less water to cultivate than rice and wheat. While rice, on average, requires 6,000 cubic meters of water per feddan (1 feddan = 1.038 acres), quinoa only needs less than 500 cubic meters.

Moreover, the ministry will issue a ban on the cultivation of some crops that require a large amount of water such as rice; a recent ministerial decision was issued to reduce the area cultivated by rice from 1.1 million feddans last year to only 724,200 feddans.

The ministry also urged spreading awareness of the threats that climate change poses on agriculture, as well as the different measures needed to protect agriculture. Developing agricultural land comes at the top of the measures.

Heavy rainfall is becoming more and more common, bringing dangerous flash floods. Flash flooding can make the dry ground become saturated in an instant, allowing torrents of water to rush down mountains like a waterslide, wiping away cities.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Irrigation, 11 governorates in Egypt are potentially vulnerable to flood risks, including Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Asyut, Sohag, Beni Suef, New Valley, and South and North Sinai.

The report also showed that the Red Sea and Suez governorates are included among the risk zones that may be exposed to floods. Even New Cairo, Helwan and Maadi are identified among the risk zones.

The Delta region is also at risk of torrential rain, but not to the level of being flooded. Sewer networks are needed to discharge rainwater, the report explained, adding that some towns are built on areas that are vulnerable to flood because of the limited available space in the Nile Delta governorates.

Climate change and its far-reaching impact is currently the subject of numerous discussions worldwide.

Egypt is an ideal example of a developing country that is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and faces numerous threats to its economic, social and environmental sustainability, including energy, water and food security.