Agriculture and Land Reclamation

Agriculture and Land Reclamation:

The agricultural sector is one of the main sectors in the Egyptian economy that employs about 27% of the employees1 in 2023, which is the highest employment share among the economic sectors.

The agricultural area in 2023 reached 9.72 million feddans, while the cropped area will reach 17.5 million feddans3 until 2023.Egypt has placed a special priority on achieving 75% self-sufficiency in wheat during the next ten years. 

The government also gives priority to cultivating 1.5 million feddans, which is a huge project, aimed at increasing the area of cultivated land.The government also seeks to dig more than 1500 new wells in the Western Desert to transform the desert into arable land.

The agricultural seasons in Egypt are divided into three seasons: winter, summer, and the “Nili” season. There are also permanent or annual crops whose production season extends to a full agricultural year, such as sugar cane, fruit crops, and timber.

Fish farming:Fish is considered a vital food source in Egypt, as it represents approximately 25.3% of the protein sources consumed by the Egyptian family. Aquaculture is considered the main source of fish production in Egypt. 

Fish production in 2023 reached 2 million tons4, recording 85% self-sufficiency, including 1.6 tons from fish farms production and the rest from fishing in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Nile River and the lakes. 

It is found that the fish farm sector provides 816,000 job opportunities (including 150,000 job opportunities in aquaculture value chains and 666,000 in fish farms).Tilapia is the most common type of fish farmed in the country.

Most of the country's fish production is consumed locally at a rate of one fish per capita per week.The area of marine fisheries in Egypt reached about 11 million feddans6 in 2023, in addition to lake fisheries, which include Lakes of Manzala, Burullus, Bardawil, Mariout, Nasser, and others.Aquaculture is currently considered the largest fish production sector in Egypt, representing about 51% of total fish production.

Private farms produced more than 98% of aquaculture production.Poultry production:Poultry is one of the most important industries in the food industry that faces some challenges in terms of the availability of high-quality poultry farms to increase production.

After this industry had lost a large part of its capabilities due to the H5N1 crisis in 2006, it was able to recover from the repercussions of that deadly crisis and return to self-sufficiency, and even export after the 14-year export ban was lifted. 

The total volume of commercial poultry production in Egypt is about 1.4 billion birds, while the rural sector produces about 320 million chickens. 

Egypt also produces about 14 billion table eggs. The volume of investments in the poultry industry in Egypt is about EGP 100 billion. 

Poultry sector in Egypt encompasses about three million workers, as the total number of poultry establishments in Egypt is about 38,000, including farms - feed factories - slaughterhouses - outlets selling veterinary medicines and vaccines.

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