Promoting Agricultural Value Chains
In the OIC Member Countries
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5.2.1 Institutional framework and public policy
The Egyptian economy has traditionally relied heavily on the agricultural sector as a source of
growth and food security. Therefore, public development efforts during the 1980s, 1990s and
early 2000s focused on expanding agricultural land and increasing productivity per unit of
land. Currently, agricultural land constitutes 3.6 percent of the total surface area (about 3.6
million ha) (Resource Statistics, 2015), which is, however, under severe pressure from
urbanisation and problems of salinization and desertification.
Government intervention in the agricultural sector was particularly strong from the 1960s to
the 1980s, and crop area controls, fixed producer prices and compulsory procurement of crops
constituted important policy instruments. This included support to cow and buffalo farmers to
keep dairy prices low. Since the implementation of macro-economic structural adjustment
policies in the 1980s, the control of the Government has weakened considerably and input
subsidies, price and procurement controls were eliminated (Soliman et al., 2010).
In 2009, the Government of Egypt released a Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy
(SADS) 2030 which aims at “modernising Egyptian agriculture based on achieving food
security and improving the livelihood of the rural inhabitants, through the efficient use of
development resources, the utilisation of the geopolitical and environmental advantages, and
the comparative advantages of the different agro-ecological regions.” Strategic objectives
encompass:
 Promoting sustainable use of resources;
 Improving national production by increasing land availability and productivity per ha;
 Increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products in local and international markets;
 Improving the agricultural investment;
 Improving the livelihood of rural inhabitants, and reducing poverty rates in rural areas.
Implementation is carried out in different phases. During the first phase of implementation,
the so-called First Business Plan (2011-2017), animal husbandry and dairy development are
identified as one of nine main programme areas, among others with the following objectives:
 Increase green fodder production [for livestock] by 50 percent;
 Increase dairy production to 7.2 million tonnes;
 Increase per capita consumption of dairy products to 63kg per year.
For this first phase, a total of US$ 18.3 billion are estimated, of which the Government of Egypt
is willing to contribute US$ 8.38 billion and hopes for private investments of US$ 9.92 billion.
In May 2013, the Government made livestock immunisation and insurance mandatory for
farmers and livestock breeders to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and
other livestock diseases. Prior to 2006, Egypt had not reported any cases of FMD, but in
January 2006 outbreaks of FMD quickly spread in the Nile Delta region and led to the death of
more than 12,000 cattle (Knowles et al., 2007). After a similar outbreak in 2012 almost 30,000
animals succumbed to the disease. Reports indicate that 40 percent of Egypt’s herd is currently
vaccinated against the FMD virus. This has lowered the reported number of positive FMD cases
in 2013 to 40 (USDA, 2013a).
In addition to FMD, Egyptian cattle production suffers from frequent outbreaks of lumpy skin
disease and bovine tuberculosis, resulting in regular shortages in milk supply (Markt &
Produkt 2010). Low yields of local cattle breeds and crossbreeds, and a lack of genetic