• Minister of International Cooperation: Joint efforts with WFP have strengthened the resilience of rural communities to climate change and food security.
• Continued constructive partnerships with WFP within the 2023-2027 strategy to meet national priorities and enhance efforts under the umbrella of the "Haya Karima" initiative.
• Providing support to smallholder systems and expanding innovative mechanisms to enhance agricultural productivity and expand renewable energy use in irrigation.
• Implementing 13 programmes to recycle agricultural waste in Aswan province and provide targeted finance to meet their long-term goals; have a national capacity of around 2000 smallholder farmers and expand innovative mechanisms to boost agricultural productivity and expand renewable energy use in irrigation.
• Providing support for the implementation of 84 projects with 20 thousand smallholder farms and support for the implementation of the irrigation projects.
In her second stop during the visit to development programs in Aswan Governorate, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Elena Panova, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, with the participation of Major General Ashraf Atiya, Governor of Aswan, visited the “Strengthening Climate Resilience and Food Security through Livelihood Enhancement and Rural Innovation” project in Aswan, which was implemented within the axis of Women’s Empowerment and Environmental Sustainability & Natural Resource Management in the “United Nations Partnership Development Framework (UNPDF) 2018 - 2022”, in partnership between the national authorities represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, the National Council for Women and other bodies In addition to the World Food Program.
The field visit was attended by Engineer Mustafa Al-Sayyad Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and Ali Huzain, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Comprehensive Development Authority at the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Praveen Agarwal, Country Director of the World Food Programme, and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Ministry of Social Solidarity, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Health and Population, and the National Council For women, civil society, the private sector and academic institutions, in addition to leaders of the Ministry of International Cooperation and United Nations agencies.
Representative from the Ministry of Agriculture gave a presentation on the results of the project achieved so far at the level of supporting small farmers, consolidating small agricultural holdings, providing solar panels to promote sustainable irrigation efforts and water resources management, and providing youth cadres trained in the maintenance of solar power units. Beneficiary farmers and entrepreneurs also spoke about the experiments carried out on the ground on the use of smart farming eps and consolidation of holdings in sugarcane and wheat crops and how it reflected on increased productivity and improved income level.
Through the various activities and events of the project, support was provided to about 10,000 small agricultural holders in Aswan to enable them to access knowledge, training and production inputs, in a way that enhances agricultural productivity and the use of smart tools and technologies in agriculture, and develops partnerships with 13 community development associations and enhances their capacity. In addition, 3 models for solar energy applications and modern irrigation were implemented, as well as 13 programs for the recycling of agricultural waste. Moreover, 3,000 women from Aswan received training on how to start a small project in the field of livestock, and 2,000 women have already obtained loans to start their projects.
While at the national level, about 68,000 small agricultural holders benefited, and partnerships were concluded to develop the capabilities of 84 community development associations to enhance the capabilities of farmers and beneficiaries, implementing 7 programs for applications of solar energy in modern irrigation systems, implementing 60 programs for recycling agricultural waste, and benefiting 20,000 women underwent training programs on entrepreneurship, and 12.6 thousand women have already obtained small loans. The program, in cooperation with the Egyptian government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, succeeded in utilizing 3,000 acres of agricultural land and small holdings to maximize utilization and enable farmers to access markets.
Al-Mashat affirmed the continuation of efforts made with the World Food Program of the United Nations to support the country's efforts to enhance food security and encourage entrepreneurship efforts in rural areas, as well as strengthening school feeding efforts, pointing out that through the 2018-2022 partnership many projects have been implemented between the national authorities and the World Food Program that helped build the resilience of rural communities in the face of climate change, consolidate innovation and use new mechanisms in irrigation, train smallholders, as well as enhance efforts to transfer knowledge and innovation through South-South cooperation and triple cooperation.
H.E. pointed out that the UNSDCF 2023-2027, will support the expansion of efforts and projects implemented in light of the priorities of the State and the Government Programme and the axes of the Presidential Rural Development Initiative "Haya Karima", and the State's endeavour to transfer development experiences and experiences with the countries of the South through the mechanisms and regional partnerships provided by the Programme.
Praveen Agrawal WFP Representative and Country Director in Egypt said that “WFP's close work with the Government, has established solid ground for communities under national development initiatives, such as Haya Karima - Decent Life, not only to improve their food & nutrition security, but also thrive with access to education, health, improved livelihoods and advance SMART agriculture. WFP will be amplifying these results in the new 2023-2027 UNSDCF through new partnerships, SMART technologies, and designing an innovative Private Public Alliance that will help us move closer to achieving the SDGS and Egypt’s Vision 2030.”
The Climate Resilience Project promotes the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 1: No Poverty; Goal 2: Zero Hunger; Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being; Goal 5: Gender Equality; Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities; and Goal 13: Climate Action.
The Strategic Framework for the Partnership for Sustainable Development sets out 5 priorities to be achieved by 2027, namely enhancing human capital through equal access to superior services, social protection and social justice for all, promoting inclusive sustainable economic development driven by productivity growth, decent jobs, integrating the informal economy, strengthening resilience to climate change and efficient management of natural resources in a sustainable environment, achieving inclusive equity in safe and equitable access to information, in line with a governance framework characterised by transparency, accountability, efficiency, interaction, and inclusive participation of women and girls, and promoting political and economic empowerment.