● Minister of International Cooperation: The food security support program with the European Union strengthens national efforts to address the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
● We are working with development partners on more programs that stimulate national efforts in the field of food security, and the NWFE program includes 5 vital projects in this sector.
● Minister of Supply and Internal Trade: The Government of Egypt has taken great steps over the past years to enhance food security.
● Minister of Agriculture: Continuous cooperation with international partners in the field of rural development and agricultural mechanization.
● Executing the agricultural mechanization project for the production of improved grains and seeds at a value of €25 million.
● A project to establish field silos and complete the information system to control the movement of wheat in Egypt, at a value of €15 million.
H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Ali Al-Al-Moselhi Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, and H.E. Dr. Al-Sayed Al-Qaseer, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, witnessed the signing of a grant agreement of €40 million provided by the EU with the implementation of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), to enhance food security efforts in Egypt with the participation of Ambassador Amr Abu Eish, Head of the National Office for the Implementation of the Egyptian-European Partnership Agreement at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gert Jan Koopmann, New Director General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, Ambassador Christian Berger, Ambassador of EU to Egypt, Martino Melli, Head of the AICS Cairo office, and the team from the Ministry of International Cooperation and representatives of the relevant entities.
Through the grant agreement, the AICS will cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture to support wheat and grain production by increasing access to approved and mechanized seeds at a value of €25 million, with the aim of implementing activities related to agricultural mechanization for the production of grains and improved seeds. In cooperation with the Ministry of Supply, it will work on establishing field silos, as well as completing the information system to control the movement of wheat in Egypt, at a value of €15 million.
This comes within the framework of the "EU-KAFI Contribution Agreement Under the EU Food Facility" programme, funded by a grant of €100 million, while deliberating the projects funded by the remaining amount - estimated at €60 million.
Al-Mashat stated that the agreement signed between the EU and AICS in light of the efforts made by the Government of Egypt, through development cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners, is to face food security challenges resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian war, in addition to enhancing national efforts in the field of grain production and storage, stimulating climate resilience and increasing strategic grain storage capacities.
H.E. also referred to the efforts made by the ministry since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in implementation of the country's directions to face the repercussions of the challenges arising from this crisis. This included signing several partnership agreements to support food security efforts, including the emergency project to support food security and response. The program is worth $500 million with the World Bank Group (WBG), the Takaful and Karama Expansion Program is worth $500 million with the WBG, and the Egypt’s Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Program worth $271 million with the African Development Bank (ADF).
Al-Mashat explained that, in line with these efforts, the Ministry launched the Nexus for Water, Food and Energy platform, the "NWFE" program, which represents a platform for the cooperation of a large number of development partners, representatives of the private sector and relevant parties, to mobilize development financing that stimulate climate action, and provide a model for replication. The food axis within the program includes 5 main projects: “Adaptation of Crop Production in the Nile Valley and Delta”, “Adaptation of Northern Delta Affected by Sea Level Rise”, “Resilience for Most Vulnerable and Marginal Regions”, “On-farm Irrigation of Old Lands” and “Establishing an Early Warning System” projects.
The Minister of International Cooperation applauded the partnership between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the EU, as well as the Italian side, which enhances development efforts in various sectors, including food security efforts, the development of small and medium enterprises, education, and agriculture.
For his part, H.E. Dr. Ali Al-Al-Moselhi Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, thanked the Ministry of International Cooperation for its continuous coordination with development partners, pointing to the importance of cooperation with the Italian side as well as the EU in strengthening the state’s plans and what the Ministry of Supply is doing to expand wheat storage silos and stimulate food security efforts.
He stressed that the Egyptian state, in the last eight years, has taken many steps to achieve food security through land reclamation and cultivation of strategic crops, explaining that the Russian-Ukrainian war affected global commodity prices, the high cost of transportation and high energy prices, which requires concerted international efforts to achieve food security.
For his part, H.E. Dr. Al-Sayed Al-Qaseer, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation thanked Al-Mashat for her efforts as well as preparation for the event. He also welcomed Al-Moselhi expressing his gratitude to the Italian side and the EU for their continuous support to the Egyptian agricultural sector in light of the global changes that affected the food security of countries.
He pointed out that there is great cooperation and coordination between all Egyptian ministries to support the food security system and that there is good cooperation with the Italian side to implement a number of projects in the agricultural sector, especially in the field of rural development, digital transformation, agricultural mechanization and others. He added that the current project would include two main components; the first is to support programs and the production of high-yielding varieties of strategic crops such as wheat and corn, the aim of which is to obtain varieties that are more adaptable to the climatic and dry conditions that the world is witnessing, adding that Egypt has high-yielding varieties and this grant will contribute to obtaining new varieties, which represents support for the food security system in producing varieties that are more sustainable and tolerant of climate change, through the Agricultural Research Center and the Desert Research Center. The other component of the project will be directed to support modern agricultural mechanization and enhance the resilience of food security, as well as support small farmers, especially in the Delta and Coastal governorates.
Al-Qaseer stressed that all these efforts come within the framework of the directives of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, showing commitment to achieving food security for citizens.
Additionally, Ambassador Amr Abu Eish, Head of the National Office for the Implementation of the Egyptian-European Partnership Agreement at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the ministry is keen to place food security as a main focus in the Egyptian-European partnership in coordination with the national entities, in light of its importance as a result of the global repercussions due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, explaining today's agreement is one of the results of this partnership to enhance food security efforts in Egypt.
Ambassador Christian Berger, Ambassador of EU to Egypt said, “Today, we sign a large part under our Food and Resilience Facility to increase food security through enhanced production. The EU is standing with Egypt in these challenging times.”
Martino Melli, Head of the AICS Cairo office, and a team from the Ministry of International Cooperation and representatives of the concerned authorities, said that the agency is proud to have participated in the signing, stressing that it is making great efforts to ensure maximum benefit from this important initiative. He pointed out that our long-term goal is to support and empower rural communities, especially women.
It is worth noting that the ongoing development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and the EU amounts to about €1.3 billion. These projects are funded through European financing mechanisms within the framework of bilateral and regional cooperation and the blended finance mechanism.
On the Italian side, 3 phases of the Egyptian-Italian debt swap program for development have been implemented, at a value of €350 million, through which 106 projects are financed in the following sectors: food security, education, agriculture, civil society, environment and cultural heritage.