Agricultural experts and leaders stress the importance of Egypt hosting the G8 developing countries summit
Agricultural experts and leaders stressed the importance of Egypt hosting the Eight Developing Countries Summit for Economic Cooperation in its eleventh edition under the slogan “Investing in youth and supporting small and medium enterprises… shaping the economy of tomorrow.”
They said that Egypt plays a major role in facing regional and international challenges, in light of current developments, especially in the field of food security, promoting sustainable development, and partnerships between developing countries on the basis of cooperation. Mutual.
They added that the agricultural sector is the main sector for securing food… stressing that in Egypt the sector witnessed an unprecedented boom during the era of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, given the importance that agriculture represents. Particular importance in directly supporting the food security system, as the past years have witnessed a renaissance aimed at achieving balanced and inclusive development, as this support is represented in increasing government investments directed to the sector and implementing many major national agricultural projects, in addition to the political leadership’s continuous follow-up of performance in the agricultural sector, While creating an investment climate in it.
Ahmed Ibrahim, the media advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, confirmed to “A.S.A.” – As for the Ministry, work is being done on several axes to secure food, the most important of which is the horizontal expansion and desert conquest projects, and among the important projects that the state has undertaken to implement, the horizontal expansion in new lands is one of the most important axes. To strengthen the policy of self-sufficiency and reduce the gap, which aimed to reclaim the desert to increase the agricultural area by more than 3.5 million acres during the past and coming short period.
Ibrahim said: Among the most important food security projects are the Toshka Project with an area of 1.1 million acres, the giant New Delta Project with an area of 2.2 million acres, the North and Central Sinai Development Project with an area of 456 thousand acres, and the Egyptian Rural Development Project with an area of 1.5 million acres, in addition to other projects in South Upper Egypt and the New Valley with an area of 650 thousand acres.
He added that Egypt also exports the surplus of its needs of agricultural products to provide foreign exchange, indicating To Egypt’s expansion in exports to many countries and the opening of new markets during the recent period, in addition to its interest in livestock and poultry wealth.
For his part, Dr. Saad Nassar, advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and expert, confirmed In the field of food security, he told (A.S.A.) that Egypt’s hosting of the 11th Eighth Developing Countries Summit for Economic Cooperation is a great appreciation for Egypt’s status and the status of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, which focused on the issue of food in light of global crises. Successive.
Nassar said that the world has witnessed in recent years and is still witnessing many crises, starting with the Corona pandemic, passing through global climate changes, and then the Russian-Ukrainian crisis… pointing out that These crises affected the supply of food, energy, and agricultural production requirements, especially feed and fertilizers, and also led to a sharp rise in global prices for these products, as Russia and Ukraine, for example, account for about 30 percent of wheat exports in the country. The world.
He added that to confront these crises and mitigate their effects on Egyptian food security, Egypt has taken many policies, procedures and measures… stressing that the political leadership gives the agricultural sector special attention and care as it One of the basic pillars of the Egyptian economy, as the sector contributes about 15 percent of the gross domestic product, about 17 percent of the total merchandise exports, and about 25 percent of the total workforce. It is also the sector responsible for providing food to the population that They are constantly increasing, as well as providing the necessary agricultural raw materials.
In turn, experts in the field of agriculture confirmed to “A.S.A.” – The state adopted a program for the production of vegetable crop seeds, with the aim of increasing Egypt’s ability to provide vegetable seeds locally instead of importing more than 95% of vegetable crop seeds, as well as reducing the burden on farms, by making them available at appropriate prices while limiting imports from abroad in order to save cash.
They said that the program succeeded in developing and registering 26 hybrid varieties of ten major vegetable crops, and an agreement was reached with some companies. The international company, which has great experience in the field of producing vegetable seeds to obtain varieties adapted to the Egyptian environment, in order to provide them to farmers through the method of partnership with them, as cooperation is currently taking place with companies from India, Brazil, and others.
