Lakhasly

This research discusses the agricultural and other related policies and their impact on the overall economic performance of the agricultural sector in Egypt. This policy inventory is intended to serve as a basis for the development of a more comprehensive agricultural strategy and policy framework that aligns sectoral policy objectives with policy measures in an effective and consistent manner. The research is intended to serve as a reference point for policy makers, researchers, and institutions. It highlights the role of agriculture in the Egyptian economy and examines water and irrigation policy and the provision and distribution of agricultural inputs, research and expansion, and reviews prices and procurement.
Policy for primary crops. Many government policies and their effect on agriculture are also measured by means of food subsidies, land rent and tenure, reclamation of land and commercial policies. A summary of key messages and proposed questions for further research is presented in the final section of the research. the main question we should ask is what’s the role of agricultural in the Egyptian economy ,and what’s The Future of Agriculture in Egypt
The geographical structure of Egypt is crucial to understanding the constraints and potential of the agricultural sector. The Nile River provides 96 per cent of Egypt's water. About 90 per cent of the population lives on land immediately adjacent to the Nile, a region of less than 5 per cent of the total land region of Egypt. More than 80% of Egypt's water supply contributes to agriculture. Most of them depend on Nile water which crosses the country from south to north, although groundwater is also increasing in importance as a source of irrigation water for the country. The majority of settlements and developments take place in the Nile Valley and between the branches of the river that birch into the Nile Delta before pouring into the Mediterranean Sea. Sparse settlements also occur in desert oases funded solely by groundwater. Agricultural policymakers have repeatedly sought – with mixed success – to expand agriculture to the deserts of the east and west of the Nile to increase the amount of land used for cultivation. Egypt has 27 regional governorates which can also be classified into the areas of Upper which Lower Egypt, the Western and Eastern Deserts and Sinai. These areas differ in the degree of culture , climate, urbanization, levels of economic development, levels of agricultural output and employment and per capita income. Approximately 9 million feddan of land is available for cultivation in Egypt.

Egypt is well located for commerce, close to the main markets of the European, Middle Eastern and African nations. Egyptian agriculture has been export-oriented since ancient times , especially in basic foodstuffs. However, in recent times, its relative importance in global agricultural exports has been low and declining; at the same time , the country has become a growing importer of basic foodstuffs, particularly wheat. Deficits in the agricultural trade balance have been constant during the last twenty years: in absolute words. The shortfall in agriculture trade rose in 1994 to 10.8 billion dollars, rising from 2.3 billion dollars in 1994. In addition to the absolute increase of its agricultural trade deficit during the last two decades, agricultural export revenues in relation to costs of agricultural importations increased in the 2000s in comparison with the 1990s (Figure 1 ) . In addition, the deficit of Egypt was about 4 times higher in the period of 2014. This means, in comparison to their agricultural imports, that Egypt's agricultural exports increased relatively.
Figure 1: Evolution of trade in agricultural products in Egypt, 1994–2014:As Egypt relied heavily on imported goods for more than 50% of its food consumption, the country is highly vulnerable to changes in international food costs and supplies.
In the future, due to further increases in population and personal incomes, substantial further increases in the demand for food can be expected. Attempts to meet growing consumer demands and decrease imports of food can be considered as the major policy objectives in agricultural planning. This food growing deficit is usually attributed to long-standing structural challenges facing the economy and agricultural sector in Egypt, which in 2015 was the second highest among the countries of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region in total agricultural import revenue from merchandise and services exports in Egypt. This proportion was just 3 percentage points lower than Yemen's (Figure2). It can be seen that nearly 40 per cent of all Egyptian export earnings have been spent on agricultural imports into the country
Figure 2: Agricultural import expenditures as a share of total export revenues, Egypt vs selected NENA countries, 2015 With Egypt advancing from a largely agricultural country into a diverse economic country, agriculture itself was a pillar of the Egyptian economy, slowly declining in prominence. Trends in agriculture's contribution to national income provide an indication of that. Between 1970 and 2000, the contribution from agriculture dropped from 29.0 to 16.5 per cent of GDP, with production falling between 1960 and 1980 at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent (Ibrahim and Ibrahim 2003; Owen and Pamuk 1998) This lack of progress often represents high rates of unemployment and deprivation. Nevertheless, it is still expected that agriculture will generate hard currency revenues through high-quality export products and provide food protection for the population of the country through the cultivation of adequate staple crops (Ibrahim and Ibrahim 2003). That is, agriculture is to provide revenue, education, and food for the Egyptian population Agriculture remains a major field of the Egyptian economy and a central pillar of food security. The databases of the Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform show that investment in agriculture for fiscal year 2015/2016 amounted to EGP 16.3 billion, including 2.8% of total public investment (MPMAR 2016). Between 2000 and 2017, the share of agriculture in GDP averaged 13.2%, while agricultural jobs averaged 29% over the same period (World Bank 2017).
Between 1980 and 2014, the Egypt GNI per capita grew by approximately 153.9 percent. Population growth of 25 million between 2000-2016 has a direct impact on economic estimates and the needs for housing , jobs, social infrastructure as well as for water supply and other basic services. The population is increased by 25 million. According to Owen and Pamuk (1998:273), this is less than 58 percent in 1960 and 34 percent in 1990. The share in total employment and GDP of agriculture in the provinces differs considerably, owing to differing agro-climatic conditions and the degree of economic diversification (Figure 3). Regionally, the Governorates of Upper Egypt have a higher share of agriculture jobs, although the share of GDP of Lower Egypt is relatively low. Egypt's key policy target was for many years nutritional self-sufficiency. Article 79 of the Constitution of 2014 states, for instance: "Every person is entitled to healthy food and clean water in sufficient quantities. The State shall supply all citizens with food resources. It also guarantees the sustainability of food sovereignty and safeguards the security of the biodiversity of agriculture and local plant types to preserve the rights of generations "(Constitute 2015:26) However, the point that be made that complete food independence is an unrealistic goal and not a sufficient prerequisite for food protection. As the FAO describes, 'food protection is given when every person has access to adequate, safe and nutritious food to meet his or her food requirements and preferences for an active and healthy life, at all times, physical, socially and economically.' Local food production can therefore be supplemented by imports and is therefore not necessary. A country can be seen as food free, if it has sufficient capital to import sufficient food, in particular foreign exchange.