FAO & IFAD launch a new project on nutrition-sensitive agriculture water productivity in Egypt

Cairo, June 13 2022

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Egypt have launched a new project to strengthen the capacities of smallholder farmers to adopt sustainable management of water, soil and agronomic practices that will contribute to increase productivity and the quality of production in terms of nutrient content and economic value. The inception workshop, held in hybrid mode with virtual and physical participants, brought together stakeholders from government, national research institutes and development organizations operating in the agriculture, water and nutrition sectors.

The project, "Increasing water productivity for nutrition-sensitive agriculture and improved food security and nutrition," is being implemented in six pilot countries: Benin, Niger, Mozambique, Rwanda, Egypt and Jordan. The project aims to work with between 600 and 1 000 smallholder farmers as well as 200 to 300 extension agents, field supervisors, decision-makers and technicians.

To support the acceleration of progress towards the achievement of sustainable development goals on water (SDG 6) and nutrition (SDG 2), the project will promote the coordination of actions among water, agriculture and nutrition sectors at national level. In addition, the project aims to provide farmers with the technical knowledge necessary to achieve "more nutrients and better economic prospects per drop".

Mr. Mohamed Abdelgadir, IFAD Country Director in Egypt said “There is a need to continue our collaborative efforts to provide tailored intervention, promote strategies and policies in the region that can mitigate the exacerbating social, economic and environmental conditions of family farmers and, especially, increase their resilience and food security.”

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Soliman, President of the Agriculture Research Centre (ARC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) of Egypt said “Food system transformation is needed to address the hundreds of millions of people without adequate access to food or water for a healthy life. The implementation of the project’s methodological approach will ensure capacity development of the beneficiaries and contribute to transforming the agri-food systems in Egypt.”

The project′s methodological approach will target field implementation using farmer field school or similar approaches in partnership with government extension services. “The project will target the integration of market and other incentives to increase the production of high nutrient-dense crops and crop diversification by linking farmers with existing public procurement programmes and territorial markets in Egypt,” said Mr. Paulo Dias, Project Manager in the Land and Water Division of FAO.

Prof. Dr. Naiim Moselhy, National Project Coordinator of the Promoting Resilience in Desert Environment (PRIDE) said “PRIDE′s overall objective is to reduce poverty and enhance food and nutrition security in rural areas through remunerative, sustainable and resilient livelihoods. We look forward to working together with the newly launched project.”

Ms. Audrey Nepveu, Global Technical Specialist at IFAD said “PRIDE is one of the 8 nutrition-sensitive projects supported by IFAD in the region. We look forward to FAO’s contribution to improve on the 31 million USD dedicated to nutrition-sensitive activities in the rainfed context of Matruh in Egypt.”