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Rural poverty in Egypt Although the incidence of poverty is decreasing overall in Egypt, the number of poor people continues to increase as the population grows. Egypt has about 10.7 million poor people, and 70 per cent of them live in rural areas. Most of the country’s rural poor people live in the north, in Upper Egypt, where there are higher rates of illiteracy and infant mortality, poorer access to safe water and sanitation, and larger numbers of underweight children. Women in general and particularly the women who head 20 per cent of all households, are particularly disadvantaged. About 80 per cent of girls are taken out of school before the age of ten to do farm work.
One of the greatest constraints hindering agricultural growth and self-sufficiency is availability of irrigated land in a country that receives hardly any rainfall. With almost 97 per cent of the population confined to the Nile Valley and Delta and their desert fringes, Egyptians have long been concerned with increasing cropped acreage and reclaiming land for agriculture. Who are Egypt’s poor people? Rural poor people typically include:
Where are Egypt’s rural poor people? The incidence of poverty and extreme poverty in the country is highest in Upper Egypt . According to the World Bank (2004) the incidence of poverty in Upper Egypt was 34 per cent in 1999/2000, compared to about 11 per cent in rural Lower Egypt. Why are rural people poor? Almost two thirds of the people in Upper Egypt are poor. They depend on agriculture for their livelihood, and agriculture in this area does not provide them with sufficient food security and income. Farmers in this part of the country have very small landholdings, compared to those in Lower Egypt. They cultivate crops that have a low market value and generate limited income. They are unable to finance the higher costs and greater risks of growing non-traditional crops. Small farmers, microenterprises and rural women do not have access to a microfinance system that responds to their needs. Alternative employment opportunities are lacking because of the limited development of small enterprises and microenterprises. Local markets are underdeveloped and marketing infrastructure, such as transport, storage and grading facilities, is poor. Producers’ associations are not well organized.
Source: IFAD |
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