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.
IFPRI Egypt Country Office
IFPRI INFO: Conversation - collaboration - community site
News
Digital tools for smallholders in Egypt: The launch of a new price monitoring tool – Mahsoly
The rapid adoption of mobile phones in agricultural and production systems provides an avenue to unlock the potential of digital innovations to transform smallholder agriculture in low- and middle-income countries. Previous research highlights how the adoption of digital tools can enhance farmers' profits and marketing outcomes by improving market efficiency through better supply and demand matching.
Events
Malnutrition, Hunger, and the Egyptian Public Nutritional Health
Egypt is among the countries confronting the simultaneous challenge of both undernutrition and overnutrition. Around 14% of the Egyptian population experience food insecurity, with the country ranking 57th out of 121 nations on the 2023 Global Hunger Index. This position indicates a moderate incidence of hunger. Moreover, approximately 40% of Egyptian adult population is obese, while around 18% of children under the age of 5 are obese and 22% are stunted (impaired growth, short for their age). This co-existence of multiple forms of malnutrition is known as the double burden of malnutrition, a compounding issue for Egyptian public health & safety.
Arab FNS Blog
Egypt’s experience bridging cash transfers and an economic inclusion program for sustainable social protection
In 186 countries worldwide, cash transfer programs are the cornerstone of social protection, outnumbering social security or pension plans. These offer critical financial lifelines to vulnerable households, aiming to alleviate poverty by providing steady cash support. However, these programs can become long-term fiscal burdens for governments due to limited turnover of recipients, particularly when the programs do not lead to lasting reductions in poverty.
ICARDA
Egypt SSP is a joint program of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA)
