Egypt: Agricultural land consolidation: essential for small holders to benefit from climate and water smart agriculture
The sustainability of smallholder agriculture in Egypt’s old lands is at risk. Land fragmentation reduces their chances to adapt to the threats of climate change. The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture with support from WFP and the Netherlands has worked with farmers on combining their fields to increase their productivity. The LAND-at-Scale programme is engaging with partners to scale up these practical lessons. Check out what came out of a recent knowledge exchange event.
Egypt is facing the challenge of providing a growing population access to healthy and sustainable diets within the context of climate change and water scarcity. Agriculture in the Nile valley goes back millennia. Over the centuries, agricultural practices and technologies have adjusted to produce more food as the population expanded: the green revolution did not pass Egypt by.
However, with a growing population as generations go by plot sizes become smaller as land gets handed down from one generation to the next. For Egypt’s sustainable water use and agricultural growth, this provides a serious bottle neck. Small scale farmers have difficulty to increase productivity, improve their water efficiency. Due to land fragmentation, they lack the economies of scale to invest in the technologies and practices needed.
“Land consolidation is essential for small farmers to benefit from climate and water smart agriculture”
Dr. Melle Leenstra, Agricultural Counsellor.
Since 2019, the Netherlands has reengaged with Egypt as a partner for sustainable water management for agriculture. The embassy saw an opportunity to join a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MoALR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in Upper Egypt. This project addressed land fragmentation as a prerequisite to supporting farmers on climate and water smart agriculture.
Engaging on land issues
In a recent workshop, experts from Egypt and international organizations came together to discuss the findings of a study carried out for LAND-at-Scale (LAS). This study placed the MALR/WFP efforts at agricultural land use consolidation in the context of Egypt’s land use and land tenure situation. It found that in situations in which land use consolidation was supported, farmers benefitted with increased yields at lower costs. This can also improve water use efficiency. The study further set out a strategy to promote land use consolidation, building on lessons from Upper-Egypt.
In a dynamic session, participants shared their perspectives and experience. It was suggested that for the experiences in Upper-Egypt to be considered land consolidation a more integrated approach should be taken, including linking farmers to markets and strengthening farmer-led busines. From the private sector there was an interest to overcome challenges of working with smallholders dealing with fragmented farmland. Incentives both subsidies and market-based incentives were key to convince farmers to pool their resources.
Take aways
A key issue discussed was the sustainability of subsidies as incentives for land use consolidation. Anecdotal evidence suggests that that land use consolidation may be a sustainable approach. However, a better understanding of this sustainability is essential for impact at scale. Another aspect of sustainability relates to adapting to and mitigating climate change. This should be a reason to speed up efforts to make agriculture more sustainable and resilient. Payment for environmental services linked to consolidated land use, may offer perspective.
Want to find out more about the stakeholder workshop, check the report of the workshop.
Following this stakeholder workshop, the LAS team will work with relevant development agencies to elaborate a strategy to promote agricultural land use consolidation. Follow LAND-at-Scale and NL-Masr Agri-Food Network for updates.