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N° 33 - July 2005 Agriculture in Egypt has been the key source of economic growth since the pharaohs ruled, and continues to be mostly concentrated on a narrow strip of irrigated land alongside the Nile. The mid-1980s saw significant market-led reforms to decentralise the agricultural sector and, since then, higher agricultural growth has been achieved. Egypt is one of the world producers of several commodities including rice, sugar cane and sorghum. However, rapid population growth has put a strain on its agricultural productivity and rural poverty remains a concern. Egypt's poor number about 10.7 million out of a population approaching 70 million, but poverty prevalence, especially in rural areas, averages at 22% and can reach 50% in Upper Egypt. In 2004, the Office of Evaluation of IFAD conducted an evaluation of its 25 years of cooperation with Egypt, in which IFAD's programme has revolved around land: support for settlement in new lands and support for productivity improvement in old territories. Key recommendations arising from the evaluation with regard to future assistance include:
Main Achievements The evaluation found that while it was difficult to assess the exact extent of the impact achieved, it seemed likely that the projects had affected the livelihoods of about 1.4 million households – equal to 12% of Egypt 's rural households and 20% of the agricultural land. IFAD's main partner has been the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. IFAD has helped the Ministry to achieve its mandate of increasing agricultural production and productivity, predominantly on newly reclaimed land areas. The Country Programme Evaluation concluded that investments in new lands in the West Delta of the Nile had clearly made a large difference to the quality of life for the targeted communities through improvements in economic and social infrastructure, improved farm productivity, marketing and water management. In the East Delta, the outlook was less bright, mainly because the environment for reclamation had been more difficult and challenges more severe. Geographical Focus and Targeting IFAD-funded projects have been largely concentrated in Lower Egypt with an emphasis primarily on developing the infrastructure in the region - irrigation, rural infrastructure and credit - as a precursor to combating rural poverty. Building social capacity – institutional strengthening and community development - received less attention. However, IFAD's global experience has found that local level institutional strengthening is often a precondition for successful investments in rural infrastructure and agriculture. Sequencing is an important consideration for future interventions in Egypt which should concentrate on rural areas of the Governorates of Upper Egypt with higher poverty prevalence, and closely aligning project areas to meet the needs of the poorest households. Successful innovative approaches in IFAD's current programme should be replicated and upscaled. Future project design and implementation processes should incorporate the requirement to promote innovative approaches and use an appropriate mix of instruments, loans and grants to this effect. Wider Spectrum of Partnerships IFAD's lack of representation in Egypt makes regular consultations about country programme development difficult in practice, and even more so with the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals and their linkage to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper processes. Organizations with a rural development mandate such as IFAD need to play an active part in these processes, if it is to have a substantial impact on rural poverty. To date, IFAD has developed only limited financial relations with other development agencies. On the other hand, within the Government of Egypt, IFAD has built a solid relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR). However, IFAD's work in irrigation, water management, and community-based rural infrastructure, would lend itself to expanding partnerships with other agencies. In addition, the limited progress in rural finance signals a need for increased dialogue with the Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit and other actors. All this argues for greatly increased policy dialogue. As IFAD seeks to be a privileged partner of the Government of Egypt and key donors, it has to equip itself with relevant knowledge and experience, be present in the appropriate forums, employ its links to leaders and policy makers, and engage on the development scene. The precursor to developing such partnerships, according the evaluation, was clearly to identify IFAD's "niche", so that the value-added by cooperating with the Fund could be demonstrated. Widen the Rural Financial Services Net IFAD's rural credit activities have not succeeded in reaching the poorest market segment: the landless and women. Widening the existing financial services net to include these neglected groups would need to go hand-in-hand with an empowerment agenda, as underlying reasons for resistance in extending financial services to them, point to their lack of collateral, illiteracy and, in some cases, isolation. The landless have little or no collateral to offer. Over 80% of women drop-out at primary school level before the age of 10 to provide for their family with much needed but very small income. For women, project support would imply a stronger focus on employment generation and skill development, not least literacy initiatives. For rural financial services to have an impact, PBDAC needs to broaden its client base and identify innovative financial instruments that are relevant to the needs of the unserved target group. Equally a mind-shift paradigm is needed to consider the landless and women as future micro-entrepreneurs who can contribute greatly to income generation on a national scale.
Further information: The Arab Republic of Egypt, Country Programme Evaluation , Report #1658-EG, July 2005, Office of Evaluation, IFAD, Via Paolo Di Dono, 44, Rome 00124, Italy. |
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