Egypt aims to reach $250M in annual date exports within 5 years

CAIRO - 21 February 2024: Egypt targets an annual export value of $250 million for dates and locally produced fresh dates over the next five years, according to the strategy of the palm and dates sector launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Egypt on Wednesday. 

 

This initiative is in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

 

As part of the strategy, Egypt is also working towards reaching sector exports of $500 million within 10 years. Additionally, the plan includes reducing the loss percentage of dates and fresh dates to 15 percent, and lowering the production cost of the supply chain by 20 percent.

 

"Egypt is considered the world leader in date production, exceeding 1.8 million tons annually, constituting 13.5 percent of Egyptian fruit production valued at LE 9.8 billion. This represents 18 percent of global production and 24 percent of Arab production, with Arab countries producing 72 percent of the world's dates," the Central Laboratory Director of Palm Research at the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Azzaddin Gadallah, said.

 

He added that the introduction of several Arab varieties, along with the development of agricultural operations and post-harvest transactions, played a significant role in increasing date productivity by more than 25 percent in some varieties. The average date palm productivity reached 117 kilograms, the highest globally.

 

Despite all the efforts made in recent years, the date sector in Egypt still operates at levels of production, packaging, manufacturing, transportation, and marketing, primarily directed towards the domestic market. The sector still requires an effective structure for its development, as the recommended Higher Council for Dates in the initial strategy has not been activated.

 

The challenge of dealing with the large surplus of production continues to push towards exporting dates and their products and increasing local consumption through various means.