Cairo, Egypt - A delegation from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) met with officials from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the aim of following the latest developments of the activities under the regional project "Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for water efficiency/productivity and water sustainability in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) countries" implemented by the FAO in each of Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Algeria, Palestine, Jordan, and Iran.

The mission started with a meeting that reviewed the Water Scarcity Initiative launched by the FAO in the NENA region, in addition to reviewing the regional strategy of SIDA for the next five years. The FAO project team then accompanied the SIDA delegation in a series of meetings with officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR), at their headquarters in Cairo, where the most important challenges facing the agricultural and water sectors in Egypt and the possibilities for development were discussed, opportunities for cooperation were reviewed, and future efforts to participate in the Egyptian efforts to develop the agricultural and water sectors were considered.

The delegation also met with officials in the monitoring, communication and information sector at MWRI to discuss the activities of the project to improve water productivity and the use of measuring devices, especially the ET-CORDOVA station and the humidity meter, and the suitability of this for expanding the implementation of the stations in the future.

The delegation then moved to Al-Minya Governorate, where it also met officials from MWRI and MALR, and the efforts to modernize the irrigation system and develop the agricultural sector in the governorate were discussed, as well as current and future training efforts within the activities of the project to improve water productivity in Egypt.

During the visit to Al-Minya Governorate, the team was briefed on the Farmer Field School (FFS) activities in Bani Ubaid village in Abu Qurqas, and learned about the performance of female farmers who were trained on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), including rationalizing water consumption by using a moisture meter for the sugar beet crop, as well as integrated pest control management.

The delegation also watched educational sessions for students in one of the schools in Abu Qurqas on how to use digital solutions in agriculture and the importance of applying GAP in addition to training them in life skills within the project. In addition to learning about the activities of preparing rural women entrepreneurs and training them on how to develop business plans in the agricultural and food fields, benefit from digital solutions in agriculture, and maximize the use of water.

During the visit to one of the main water drains in Al-Minya Governorate, the delegation also learned how to control water levels and divert them from the main canals to the canals and branch drains to ensure the optimal use of irrigation water by relying on modern equipment in this field.

The SIDA and FAO delegation consisted of Yosra Al-Bakkar, Regional Program Director at the Swedish International Development Agency, Amira Khalil, Regional Communication Officer at the Swedish Embassy in Cairo, Domitille Vallee, Chief Technical Advisor at the FAO Regional Office, Walid Abul-Hassan, Project Manager for Water Productivity Improvement at FAO, and Mohamed Moussa, Information Officer at FAO Egypt.

The project "Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for water efficiency/productivity and water sustainability in NENA countries" funded by SIDA comes within the framework of the FAO Regional Water Scarcity Initiative, which aims to support Egypt and a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa to develop strategic plans for water resources management. The project aims to bring together three main areas, which are to establish a robust water accounting system that provides information on the status of water resources and their uses; enhancing knowledge of water efficiency, productivity status and opportunity for improvement in diverse agricultural systems; and to ensure a higher return per drop of water by 2030.