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Egypt Agribusiness Report Q3 2009Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Jun. 22, 2009 - 45 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractThe Egyptian population is the largest and fastest growing in the Arab world, a dynamic which is puttingconsiderable pressure on the government to help improve the domestic food outlook; particularlypertinent in a country possessing inadequate water supplies and limited arable land. Egyptian agriculturehas made notable strides in recent years, as privatisation reforms have helped facilitate greater levels ofproductivity, while increasing domestic income has meant that consumers, more than at any other time,are becoming more adventurous in their consumption choices. BMI's latest Egypt Agribusiness Report ispublished as the global recession continues to cast an economic shadow, while fears of a swine flupandemic gather pace.In a particularly reactionary response to the swine flu outbreak, the Egyptian government ordered theslaughter of the country's entire pig herd, estimated to be in the region of 300,000 beasts. Notwithstandingthe virus only being spread by human-to-human contact, as opposed to animal-to-human, the state seemsdetermined to quell the potential for mass hysteria in a Muslim country still getting to grips with instancesof avian flu. Despite having a relatively small pork industry, the cull still represents a complete loss ofearnings to the small number of farmers making a living out of the industry. A positive to be gleaned forother livestock farmers is the increased availability of feed grains at favourable prices, which couldcontinue long after the crisis subsides. So as to encourage a greater level of agricultural production, private-led development reforms have beenmade, predominantly via the selling of state-owned enterprises, which have indeed had the desired effect.Foreign direct investment flows have been liquid, although it should be noted that a large proportion ofsuch capital is leveraged through firms with interests in sectors - such as tourism - which have sufferedmarkedly during the financial crisis. Furthermore, water availability remains a real problem; per capitawater consumption is already below recognised international standards and with the production of staplegoods, such as rice, using large volumes, Egypt's relatively weak irrigational capacities are beingstretched to the limits. In addition to the pace with which the population is expanding, rapid urbanisation and a move towardsindustrial and service-based employment has severely impinged on already limited agricultural land, yetthe government seems extremely focused in its efforts to improve agricultural capacity and has seenconsiderable improvement made in the outlook of late. The reclamation of arid desert land has helpedexpand domestic arable acreage, particularly in the North of the country. Private commercial farmers have done much to improve the outlook, spurred on by government initiativesto make farming more attractive. Graduates have been encouraged to get into husbandry with low interestloans and free animals to start them off; this has fuelled a marked upswing in those wanting to workrurally, particularly so considering the congestion of the major cities and diminishing employmentpotential. The disbursement of modern technology has helped the cultivation of a variety of fruits andvegetables to such a degree that exports to neighbouring countries are possible. Despite the growing land constraint and scarcity of water, BMI considers the strides made in Egyptianfarming sufficient enough to lead to output growth through 2009 and beyond in the majority of grainscovered in our outlook. The development of agro-industrial zones for intensive farming, together withimproved levels of irrigation, will provide a backdrop against which higher productivity husbandry canoccur. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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