Monday, May 22, 2023
2:00-4:00 PM Cairo Time
Venue: Institute of National Planning - Main Conference Room - 7th floor 
Over the last few decades, the world has experienced recurring food crises characterized by rampant inflation and spikes in food, fertilizer, and fuel prices. Most of these major spikes in food prices are triggered by major events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. More recently, the Russia-Ukraine crisis and associated trade shocks have caused significant disruptions in global markets and hence immediate surges in global food, fuel, and fertilizer prices.
The impact of food inflation varies across countries and households, depending on their vulnerability to food prices and trade shocks. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in general, and Egypt in particular, are particularly vulnerable to shocks to world food prices and trade because of their heavy dependence on food imports. Indeed, the trade shocks triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict have caused major inflationary pressure on the Egyptian economy. The overall annual inflation, which was six percent in January 2022, soared to 34 percent in March 2023. This is the highest inflation rate in five years and food inflation is the major driver reaching 62 percent in March 2023.
This Egypt NPS Seminar aimed to highlight important lessons and research-based findings on how countries and markets are responding to unfolding multiple crises. This seminar featured recent studies on the implications of food price shocks on poverty and household diets using household data from Egypt and other MENA countries. The event brought relevant policymakers to share major lessons in programming social protection and crisis responses.
Video recording:
Photo Album
REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND IN-PERSON
AGENDA
Registration & Networking Welcome Coffee
13:30 – 14:00
Opening Remarks by Keynote Speakers
14:00 – 14:30
Session Moderator: Yumna Kassim, Program Manager, IFPRI; CGIAR
Channing Arndt (See slides)
Senior Director for Transformation Strategies, IFPRI; CGIAR
Hala Abou Ali
Vice President, Institute of National Planning (INP)
Ibrahim Ashmawy
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade (MSIT)
Food Prices, Devaluation, Food Subsidies and their Implications for Egypt’s Economy and Households
14:30– 15:20 PM
Session Moderator: Clemens Breisinger, MENA Regional Program Leader, IFPRI; NPS Initiative Lead, CGIAR
Devaluation and Implications on Egypt’s Economy
Mariam Raouf (See slides)
Senior Research Associate, IFPRI; CGIAR; Head of Modelling Unit, INP
Inflation and Diets Among Poor Households in Egypt
Kibrom Abay (See slides)
Egypt Program Leader, IFPRI; Egypt NPS Lead, CGIAR
Diets During a Crisis
Habiba Hassan Wassef (See slides)
Head of National Nutritional Sciences Committee
Food Subsidies and Poverty in Egypt in the Context of Crises
Sherine Al-Shawarby (See slides)
Professor of Economics, Cairo University
Inflation and Lessons from Microsimulation
Imane Helmy
Senior Economist, The World Bank
Dynamics of wheat and fertilizer trade
Mohamed Zakaria (See slides)
Professor, Agriculture Economics Research Institute
Q&A
15:20 – 15:35
Promoting Science-Policy Interfaces for Informing Crisis Responses: Lessons from the CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS)
15:35-15:45
Clemens Breisinger (See slides)
MENA Regional Program Leader, IFPRI & NPS Initiative Lead, CGIAR
Closing Remarks
15:45 – 16:00
Channing Arndt
Senior Director for System Transformation, IFPRI; CGIAR
Ashraf El-Araby
President, INP
Lunch
16:00
This work is part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS). CGIAR launched NPS with national and international partners to build policy coherence, respond to policy demands and crises, and integrate policy tools at national and subnational levels in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CGIAR centers participating in NPS are The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Potato Center (CIP), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and WorldFish. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Please note that, spaces on-location, at INP, are limited to 70 participants to be filled on a first come, first served basis. Once all spaces have been filled up, remaining participants will be directed to the livestream link to follow online
