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Higher wheat prices push Egypt to increase price of subsidized bread for first time since 1989

Bread prices have long been a sensitive political issue in Egypt. In 1977, President Anwar Sadat cut the subsidies, triggering protests known as the “bread intifada”—ultimately forcing him to roll back his subsidy reform. In 2011, Egyptians took to the streets protesting the regime of President Hosni Mubarak with slogans calling for “bread, freedom, and social justice.” In 2017, Egyptian Ministry of Supply proposals to reduce the state-sponsored provision of bread from up to 4,000 to 500 loaves per bakery provoked large-scale protests across the country.

News

NEW PUBLICATION: Don’t spend it all in one place: The medium-term effects of a national cash transfer program on household well-being

Cash transfer programs are often effective at increasing household consumption in their early years, but impacts become more nuanced over time as the use of transfers varies. This paper examines the medium-term effects of Egypt’s f lagship cash transfer program, Takaful, on several measures of household wellbeing using a regression discontinuity (RD) design

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Events

BEP Seminar Series: Climate-smart agriculture and development practices in Egypt

Egypt stands at a critical juncture, facing significant environmental stresses exacerbated by climate change, despite being a relatively minor contributor[1] to global greenhouse gas emissions. The nation’s already hot and arid climate is experiencing increasing average temperatures, with projections indicating continued increases.  Climate change significantly impacts Egypt’s agricultural sector[2], a vital contributor to the country’s GDP, foreign cash reserves, food security, and employment.  Absent adaptation, rising temperatures, increased land salinity due to rising sea levels in the Nile Delta, limited surface water resources and rapid exploitation of groundwater resources will reduce agricultural productivity in the future.

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Arab FNS Blog

The struggle to get food aid from Egypt to Gaza: Insights from the Egyptian Food Bank

The Gaza Strip has entered a “worst case” food crisis, with its population now facing famine, according to a July 29 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. Responding to growing international outrage over the emergency, two days earlier, Israel said it was reopening humanitarian aid corridors—allowing international organizations to resume convoys—while the Israeli Defense Force announced a daily  “tactical pause” on operations in densely-populated Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Mawasi to facilitate aid distribution.

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