Ministry of Agriculture was always a ministry that Egyptians were not interested in, but after the corruption case of former Minister of Agriculture Salah Helal this ministry caught everyone's attention. On Saturday, Essam Fayed sworn in as Minister of Agriculture in Sherif Ismail new government. Fayed – 63 years- was dairy microbiology professor at Ain Shams University, Dean of the Ain Shams' Faculty of Agriculture from 2010 until 2013, Egypt's agricultural office director in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome until 2012, and adviser of former Minister of Agriculture Youssef Waly during Hosni Mubarak's regime. After being assigned, Fayed will work on three major files. The first file is the reclamation of one and a half million acres project that was announced by President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who said that the first batch of 54 thousand acres will be given to Egyptian youth and graduates in Farafra Oasis, west of Minya and Toshka during the October war celebrations. The second file the new minister will work on is the elimination of corruption that spread in Ministry of Agriculture sectors such as the looted state lands on Alexandria and Ismailia desert roads. The third file that all previous Ministries of Agriculture didn't solve it is the problem of shortage of fertilizers, especially with the beginning of the summer season. Also, Fayed will be responsible for putting a number of new legislations for the General Authority for Rehabilitation Projects and Agricultural Development (GARPAD) in order to do its duties in the service of citizens, as well as codification possession of lands. The minister will be also responsible to implement veal project that stipulates to ban the slaughter of young cows, as well as putting a plan to eliminate Bird Flu, which has become an endemic disease in Egypt.
