Kara Hoving - AUC
Last fall, the IPCC issued the latest in a series of increasingly dire reports on the threat of climate change on human society. The findings outlined in this report are particularly consequential for Egypt, even though this country contributes less than 0.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Under current climate change projections, Egypt may experience a temperature increase of 4 to 6 degrees Celsius by end-century, accompanied by sea level rise and saltwater incursion, fluctuating flow levels in the River Nile and extreme freshwater scarcity. The agricultural sector, which relies heavily on Nile irrigation, will be highly vulnerable to these impacts, thereby threatening Egypt’s food security. Egypt’s climate experts, policymakers, and farmers are increasingly recognizing the need for policies and practices that allow the Egyptian food system to both mitigate and adapt to climate change.
To explore specific solutions and policy recommendations for Egypt, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) held a seminar in partnership with the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) on April 18, 2019 in conjunction with AUC’s annual Earth Week celebrations. The IFPRI seminar titled "Climate-Smart Agriculture Solutions for Egypt” invited leading experts, as well as local farmers, to share their research and experiences with climate-smart agricultural strategies, defined by speaker Mohamed Abdel-Monem of FAO as practices which “should increase productivity and resilience while decreasing emissions, and enhance achievement of national food security.”
Dr. Richard Tutwiler, professor at AUC and former director of the Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment / Desert Development Center, began the seminar by asking: “Is the future of farming indoors?” Protected agriculture is the fastest-growing form of agriculture in the region, progressing from partially exposed to completely controlled indoor artificial environments, as a means of decreasing water consumption and escaping adverse climatic changes. President Sisi’s plan to construct 40,000 hectares of greenhouses indicates that protected agriculture will be a major component of Egyptian agricultural strategy in the near future.
Yumna Kassim, senior research assistant at IFPRI, presented a “Typology of Farmers and Farm Households in Egypt,” identifying seven major types of Egyptian farming households and analyzing their vulnerability to different climate change scenarios. The study included recommendations for enhancing the resilience of each household group, such as increasing rural employment opportunities and ensuring smallholder access to markets. Following this, two farmers spoke about their personal experiences. Waheed Helal discussed the challenge of lack of access to skills, knowledge and equipment for proper soil monitoring and irrigation management among rural farmers, and proposed improved cooperative systems and crop specialization within governorates as means to increase farmers’ incomes. Kassem El Said of Al Youmna Farms related the obstacles to implementing a hydroponics farm, including high initial investment, lack of experienced personnel, and marketing challenges.
The focus then shifted from the farmer-level to the regional scale, as climatologist Ajit Govind of ICARDA discussed the projected effects of climate change on the MENA region, emphasizing the need to focus on water-related preparedness. He introduced some of the interventions being developed by ICARDA, such as ultra-low-energy drip irrigation systems and heat- and drought-resistant crop varieties, and highlighted the need for an integrated data collection strategy for climate and socioeconomic change data. FAO consultant Mohamed Abdel-Monem further described the projected climate effects on the Egyptian agricultural sector, and emphasized the need for strong research programs and targeted climate change governance in Egypt.
Nicolas Tremblay, Lead Technical Specialist on the Environment and Climate at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), discussed the work being done in Egypt’s poorest areas in Upper Egypt and Marsa Matrouh. IFAD aims to have at least 25% of all investments be climate sensitive, supporting “farmland use and investment plans” in the “old lands” relying on renewable water resources. Tremblay listed fossil fuel subsidies and free access to water as obstacles to incentivizing resource efficiency, and also identified the need to address demand-side transitions in the Egyptian food system towards Westernized, meat-based diets.
Finally, Hammou Laamrani, policy advisor to the League of Arab States, concluded the seminar with a discussion of the promising links between existing farmer vulnerability and social justice issues and climate-smart agricultural solutions. He emphasized the need for a transformation of institutions and extension services, and for dialogue and collaboration between sectors, ministries, policymakers and implementers.
The major outcomes of the seminar presentation and discussion are summarized in the following recommendations:
- Increase research and implementation programs focusing on agricultural practices which are both adaptive, i.e. improving resilience to climatic changes, and mitigating, i.e. highly resource efficient and/or utilizing renewable energy and water resources. These can also include protected agriculture (e.g. greenhouses), as it can play an important role for building climate resilience.
- Increase data sharing among ministries, NGOs, and academic research organizations working in areas related to climate smart agriculture and increase coordination between researchers, policymakers, implementers, extension workers, and farmers.
- Strengthen extension networks and reform extension institutions and practices, utilizing new technologies to get information to farmers and building the farmers’ entrepreneurial skills.
- Strengthen climate governance and elevate the importance of agriculture in Egypt’s Vision 2030.
