Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the “New Delta” Integrated Agricultural Project on Sunday, a vast programme designed to bolster the country’s food security by cultivating millions of hectares of desert land in the El Dabaa region.
According to Egyptian authorities, the “New Delta” Integrated Agricultural Project aims to transform approximately 2.5 million hectares of desert into productive farmland, primarily through the use of treated agricultural drainage water and significant water and energy infrastructure.
The overall cost of the programme is close to 800 billion Egyptian pounds, stated Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and several other high-ranking state officials.
The president presented this project as one of Egypt’s key instruments for ensuring food security, in a context marked by population growth and water challenges.
“Egyptians should rejoice and be proud of this achievement,” said Al-Sisi, emphasizing the coordinated mobilization of public institutions and the private sector.
According to him, nearly 150 companies are directly involved in the project’s agricultural production, in addition to hundreds of other actors operating in infrastructure, energy, and related services.
Egyptian authorities are also highlighting the industrial and logistical dimensions of the programme.
The project includes nearly 12,000 kilometres of new roads, the construction of 19 main pumping stations, and power plants totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts of installed capacity.
Treated agricultural wastewater is transported via two major 150-kilometer waterways to supply the new farms located west of the Delta and south of El Alamein.
This agricultural strategy is also part of a broader approach to crop specialization. The historically fertile lands of the Nile Valley and Delta will continue to support high-yield crops such as wheat and corn, while the newly reclaimed desert land will be dedicated to arid-climate crops, including sugar beets.
The Egyptian president estimated that the project could generate approximately two million sustainable jobs.
The “New Delta” project comes at a time when Egypt remains heavily reliant on agricultural imports. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi noted that the country imports between 14 and 17 million tonnes of animal feed annually, in addition to the significant volumes of wheat required for domestic consumption.
The Egyptian president also mentioned other ongoing agricultural projects in the regions of Minya, Beni Suef, Toshka, Kom Ombo, East Oweinat, and the Sinai Peninsula, which are presented as pillars of the country’s agricultural development strategy for 2030.
MK/AK/Sf/fss/gik/APA