April 18th, 2019

9:30 am to 12:00 pm

Location: Conference Center - Room PO22
The American University in Cairo, New Cairo Campus

The IFPRI-Egypt Seminar Series is part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project called “Evaluating Impact and Building Capacity” (EIBC) that is implemented by IFPRI. The seminar supports USAID’s Agribusiness for Rural Development and Increasing Incomes (ARDII) project’s objectives.

In partnership with

The Center for Applied Research on the Environmental and Sustainability (CARES)

“Climate-Smart Agriculture Solutions for Egypt”

 

Noting the efforts in the industry to produce climate-smart solutions for agriculture, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)  is partnering with the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) during the American University in Cairo’s Earth Week celebrations, to hold a seminar on the topic of climate smart agriculture.

As a country that juggles a dry climate, the water demands of irrigated crops, and an increasing and deeply-rooted dependence on crops irrigated by the Nile, Egypt is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Fluctuating levels in the flow of the Nile leave crops and yields at risk, especially during the summer season, while sea-level rise threatens low-lying Delta lands with increased sea water intrusion and increased salinity, resulting in lower levels of fresh water supply. As Egypt implements its Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt’s Vision 2030, recognition of the risks of climate change to the Egyptian agricultural sector and to the economy in general have begun to appear in policy rhetoric. While the opportunities and challenges facing the agricultural sector in Egypt are well known, the related policy advice to address the issues is often overly general and not necessarily targeted at specific regional and farm characteristics. Such policy advice includes increasing water-use efficiency and preserving soil quality; improving input and output marketing; and linking farmers to knowledge and improved agricultural technologies.

At this seminar, panelists will discuss technologies and solutions being adopted in the fields at the different scales, the opportunity and challenges that facilitate or hurdle this, and how it all translates to policy recommendations.

Following the seminar and in conjunction with AUC Earth Week’s “Innovation Day”, sustainability-focused start-ups, companies and organizations run by members of the AUC community will exhibit and showcase their work and solutions between 12:00 - 3:00 pm on the Bartlett Plaza.