Independent Dialogue
Geographical focus:
Egypt
Main findings
Egypt is a perfect case for the interconnectedness of water and food systems, not only because the country has one of the world’s oldest civilizations built on irrigation, but also because water and food security are the largest development challenges the country is facing. Moreover, Egypt has multiple good practices, success stories and bright spots of using water for food system transformations. At the same time, Egypt is directly affected by climate change with hotter temperatures, and increased crop water demand, as well as heat stress affecting farmers, agricultural workers as well as l
... Read moreivestock. One of the largest challenges that the participants noted is that while both water and food security are on top of Egypt’s agenda water security and food security are two sectors in silos. A key recommendation noted by participants is to bring the two sectors together and to put farmers and their communities at the heart of any reform. Several private-sector firms are engaged in optimizing Egypt’s irrigation water use; this includes irrigation in the New Lands that use high-end center-pivot systems. Given growing water shortages in the country—using water more sustainably and further optimizing irrigation water use were recommendations that permeated all breakout room sessions. While the private sector is active in Egypt’s water and food sectors, it was noted that regulations and incentive structures affecting the private sector would benefit from further review. Given Egypt’s diverse agricultural ecologies, including the Nile Delta, the New Lands, the old lands, upstream and downstream areas, more targeted agricultural water use investments were recommended. Based on more targeted interventions, these can be scaled up and further promoted, such as the value chain approach used in Nubaria’s new lands which has been sustained for more than 10 year. The participants agreed that more effort is needed to invest in water-saving technologies and support farmers in the application of such technologies. The example of farmers in Indonesia shifting from flood to drip irrigation was mentioned. Use of digital tools—to improve irrigation scheduling—and support to extension services by connecting them to the research community to ensure a more steady flow of innovation from research to farmers and from farmers to researchers was also recommended. It was noted that additional incentives might be required, including smart subsidies, to support farmers in adopting new technologies that would support both water and food security outcomes. The potential of land consolidation, of running canals like utilities, and of paying farmers for using less irrigation water were all discussed and it was agreed that more studies and pilots are needed in this area. In addition to the suggestion to investing in improved seeds, there were also discussions if Egypt should possibly reduce production of rice and sugarcane, which are both water intensive. Finally, there is a need for improved policy coherence and institutional decentralization in addition to making more services available to farmers in terms of finance, digital tools, direct support to farmers. Other issues that need to be considered for achieving increased water security while transforming food systems include improved access to energy for food processing and storage. This can also improve nutritional outcomes. Participants suggested that reducing both water and food losses for key food value chains could save one third of total resources currently used to produce food commodities and could thus strengthen food and security in Egypt. This would require innovation in access to finance and insurance for farmers with only small plots of land or those who do not own any land, as well as access to technology and investment in bringing the technology to farmers. Finally, participants also noted that consumers need to understand the value of water and how climate change may jeopardize water security. Raising awareness of consumers of the water embedded in the food they consume may encourage shifts in consumer behavior and mentality toward more sustainable food consumption patterns. Policy makers should highlight and incorporate the importance of this issue across the educational system to encourage all age-groups and generations to consider the role of food consumption for water security. Read less
Action Track(s): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Keywords: Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Innovation, Policy, Trade-offs
