Matrouh, Egypt - Within the framework of the project on “Water harvesting and Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) for improved livelihoods and increased and sustained production in Matrouh rain-fed agricultural areas”, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) distributed today, 40 Damsacus bucks to 40 beneficiaries, including 5 women.

This project, implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) and funded by the European Union via its Joint Rural Development Programme (EU-JRDP), aims at improving livestock production and living conditions as well as contributing to improved income and nutrition. 

25 dairy and cheese processing units, as well as five butter-processing units, were distributed to 30 women. The beneficiaries come from four centers: Sidi Barani, Nijila, Ras Al Hikma and Matrouh in Marsa Matruh Governorate Representatives from MALR, EU-JRDP, and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation have participated in the celebration.

Representatives from Matrouh governorate, the Agriculture directorate, the Agricultural Cooperative, the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), Animal Production Research Institute in Matrouh, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural extension centers, along with representatives from agricultural associations and farmers have attended the celebration.

Last year, FAO distributed 250 Barki goats to 50 Breadwinner women, with 5 goats per woman and a half ton of feed.

Throughout the project’s three stages, 290 Barki and Damascus bucks, 30 units for milk and butter processing were provided to 120 beneficiaries in 4 centers in Matrouh governorate. Moreover, FAO implemented along with its partners a series of activities that include four main components: water harvesting; propagation of good agricultural practices; and improvement of livestock production, household- level nutrition, and rangeland,” said Tony Ettel, programme coordinator in FAO, during the celebration.

Some of the remaining activities under this project include: drilling more wells, distributing more poultry feed to the beneficiaries in the four centers, improving rangeland, cultivating fodder shrubs, and grass seeds adapted to drought conditions in the region, as well as re-cultivating some of the extinct seeds in the southern pastoral areas,” Mr. Ettel continued to add.

“In addition to the project on “Water harvesting and GAP” in Matrouh, implemented by FAO, EU-JRDP is funding three other projects in Matrouh governorate, in collaboration with different research and governmental institutions, with a total budget of 83.2 million EGP. We hope to implement more projects to participate in the rural and agriculture development programme, said Dr Eslam El Fadly, Field Officer of Matrouh sub Programme Management Unit , under EU-JRDP.

The European Union- Joint Rural Development Programme (EU-JRDP) is a rural development intervention under the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) in Egypt, a policy initiative of the European Union translating its commitment to inclusive growth and stability in its neighbourhood and is implemented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The total cost of the Programme is €21, 89 million entirely financed by the European Union. EU-JRDP duration is five years (2015-2019).