How will the East Oweinat Project help foster Egypt’s food security?

The Egyptian government has recently announced that the country is aiming to acquire one million tons of wheat from new agricultural projects adopting smart irrigation methods, within the framework of Egypt’s goal to rationalize water use and achieve food security.

This week, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi witnessed the inauguration of the wheat harvest season and the opening of a potato factory in East Oweinat, in the New Valley Governorate, in Upper Egypt. During the inauguration, he stressed the importance of rationalizing water used in agriculture and making use of subterranean water existing therein. 

The East Oweinat project is one of the largest giant agricultural projects in southern Egypt for wheat cultivation and desert land reclamation, with an area of more than 186,000 feddans. It reflects the state’s quest to increase the area of plantation and realize optimum utilization of cultivated feddans, with the aim of reducing import bills and hence the pressure on public finances.

Over the past few years, Egypt has made significant investments in developing new agricultural projects, to reduce dependence on food imports, and boost agricultural production and export rates, by improving efficiency and yields.
The East Owainat project could help Egypt to further strengthen its position as a major player in the global wheat market.

President Al-Sisi noted during the inauguration of the wheat harvest season at the East Oweinat reclamation project, that Toshka project, which started in the 1980s, has first been set to cultivate 700,000 feddans, but now the total area of cultivated lands in East Oweinat and Toshka amounts to one million feddans.

He added that “after finalizing the cultivation of these lands, we will be having one million tons of wheat grown through modern irrigation systems”. 

The successful acquisition of one million tons of wheat from these new projects will undoubtedly maximize the country’s agricultural industrialization and thereby enhance Egypt's food security, especially in light of the global food crisis.