Challenges

Considering that 60 percent of the African population resides in rural areas, Egypt has always considered improving the livelihoods of rural communities to be a priority for development of the continent. Among the development challenges facing these rural communities are poor sanitation, limited supplies of clean water, limited access to quality healthcare, the need for assistance to explore their resources and the need for access to expertise in agriculture and modern irrigation techniques.

Rural development not only impacts villages and surrounding areas, but it also affects urban areas. If rural communities offer better living conditions and the potential for sustainable futures for youth, it can decrease urban migration, which brings its own host of problems. Moreover, improving the value chain of agriculture products makes local products more accessible and positively affects the prices in markets all over the country.

Toward a Solution

To address the above challenges, Egypt formulated a portfolio to contrib- ute to rural development in Africa that involves three mechanisms: 1) agriculture support (model farms, irrigation and skills training); 2) sharing of good practices (in agriculture, irrigation, food security and water management); and 3) improvement of rural water sources. These mechanisms help communities adopt the latest techniques in irrigation and more efficiently utilize their water resources.

The first mechanism includes three programmes. The first it the Joint Model Farms Programme which is an agreement between the Government of Egypt and eight countries (Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Niger, Sudan, Togo, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia) to provide technical expertise for creating and managing model farms. The model farms serve as business incubators, aiming to improve seed strains to ensure food security and to improve local agricultural value chains. The model farms also increase work opportunities for communities and hope to contribute to stemming internal migration and illegal immigration from Africa to Europe.

The second programme improves irrigation systems on existing farms, reducing water waste and improving agricultural output in terms of both quality and quantity. EAPD, the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation and an Egyptian company (Arab Contractors), with the collaboration of South Sudanese authorities, are cultivating a farm in West Gazal State, South Sudan, using new irrigation and water management techniques. The new techniques are hoped to have a positive impact for the society and the environment.

The third programme improves the skills and techniques of smallholder farmers in Africa. The project was implemented in Sudan and Kenya and had positive results on the beneficiary communities.

The second mechanism focuses on sharing Egypt’s experiences through triangular cooperation initiatives with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other countries in Africa. This involves the creation of an electronic platform where Egyptian institutions share their good practices in the fields of agriculture, irrigation, food security and water management. The platform will be an interactive space where agriculture experts in Egypt and the rest of Africa will meet, exchange expertise and analyse challenges and solutions through cooperation, with the goal of leaving no one behind.

The third mechanism improves water sources for rural communities. EAPD, the Egypt Ministry of Irrigation and Egyptian companies have implemented four projects in Nile Basin countries to contribute to preserving water, adding new water resources, simplifying access to clean water and improving water quality. The four projects are:

• drilling underground wells (South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda);
• building rainwater reservoirs(South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda);
• flood risk prevention (Uganda); and
• weed control in the Nile River (Sudan, Uganda)

The projects completed to date have brought a number of positive results on the ground. First, and importantly, the projects have helped the sustainability of villages by improving their capacities to respond and mitigate natural challenges and climate change. They have also had an influence in societies. For instance, when a village has a nearby source of water, like an underground well, that can affect the education rate of children, especially girls, as families often send girls in the morning to fetch water. When the water sources are nearby, children, and especially girls, have more time for studies. In addition, the projects can be seen as a baseline for other infrastructure projects. For example, the control of weeds in the Nile improves the quality of water, thereby enhancing the ability of communities to implement agricultural projects in the area.

This project is replicable but does require strong coordination among the partners involved to ensure its success. Coordination should not be only among the different ministries, but also needs to be between the public and private sectors.