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Rural poverty approaches, policies & strategies in Egypt

The Government of Egypt is committed to reducing poverty through a combination of sustainable economic growth, income distribution and social development policies. In 1998 it developed a long-term development strategy, Vision 2017, which gives priority to creating employment opportunities as the surest way to combat poverty. Currently the government is preparing a new poverty action plan.

To create employment Egypt pursues a five-pronged strategy that includes:

• economic growth to increase income and employment opportunities
• human development to raise poor people's capabilities through education, health care, nutrition and social initiatives
• women's advancement and the closing of the gender gap
• safety net measures for the poor and particularly for women
• participatory governance so the poor can make their voices heard

In the agricultural sector, Egypt is becoming increasingly integrated into the world economy. National strategy calls for a high rate of agricultural growth in terms of quality and quantity of yields. The new economic direction in Egypt also foresees a limited role for government in agricultural development, placing heavy reliance on the private sector and market forces. Public-sector investments in agriculture will be limited to irrigation superstructure, land reclamation and settlement of reclaimed land, and support for the research system.

Egypt's objective is to boost agricultural growth by:

• exploiting the country's strong potential to reclaim new lands
• increasing the yields of traditional crops
• encouraging the production of high-value horticultural crops
• increasing livestock production, especially through small producers

The policy is expected to result in more jobs, increased exports, and a significant increase in rural incomes and poverty alleviation, as large numbers of low-income farmers become part of the growth process.

One of the government's major long-term strategies is reclamation of large portions of the desert, or newlands. The target set for reclamation up to 2017 is 4.3 million feddan (1.8 million ha), of which almost 60 per cent would be available and suitable for agriculture. While physical reclamation is relatively straightforward, agricultural services, adequate social infrastructure and access to microfinance are essential if farmers moving into these lands are to prosper.

Source: IFAD

Poverty reduction paper 2002 (Arabic only)

Poverty reduction in Egypt: Diagnosis and strategy