Agriculture is a vital sector in the Egyptian economy, providing livelihoods for about half of the country’s population. Egypt has a well-developed irrigation system, concentrated along the Nile River valley and delta where a wide variety of fruit tree crops, horticultural and traditional field crops are cultivated. Despite this, food insecurity still remains a major challenge in the rural Upper Egypt, characterised by low purchasing power among many rural households. The food insecurity coupled with nutrition concerns have largely been driven by rising poverty rates.

Through the “increasing water productivity for nutrition-sensitive agriculture and improved food security and nutrition” project, FAO in partnership with IFAD, will support the Government strategy that gives priority to improving food security and the livelihood of the rural population through the Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy (SADS) 2030. In addition, the project will support the IFAD Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy towards 2030, more specifically, the government strategy for productivity improvements in the old lands in the Nile valley and Upper Egypt.

In Egypt, the project will be implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.