CAIRO: The arid desert regions of Egypt have long been void of any human capacity to develop agriculture and farmland, but the Egyptian government hopes this is about to change. With the recent wheat crisis in Russia throwing the world's largest importer into a frenzy, the government, in coordination with the Abu Dhabi government, is hoping that by turning the desert green they can boost agriculture and animal production. The $100 million canal project that will bring water from the Nile river to the Toshka desert is reportedly complete and is part of a massive human settlement plan being undertaken by Egypt. Already, new cities have been built in the desert in an effort to attract people away from the overpopulated capital, Cairo. But it hasn't really worked, says Sheikh Zayed city resident Mohamed Amer, who has lived in the city about 45 minutes from Cairo for one year, but must commute to work daily. “There are no businesses out here, no real work, so we all have to make the journey into Cairo to go to work because no companies are moving out of the city,” he said. The Toshka project, however, aims at changing the way Egyptians look at agricultural opportunities. The area some 150 miles south of Aswan in Upper Egypt, is already home to the al-Ghabeera plant, and the government and ministry of agriculture believe it can ensure production of safe crops. Three irrigation stations have been constructed as part of the canal in an effort to bring water into the area for farmers to cultivate new areas of land. “We are confident that this will be a major success and show that Egypt can be self-sustainable in the near future,” said Osama Abdel-Qaddus, a ministry official in Aswan. He added that with the current wheat crisis, “Egypt has to be able to support its own population as best as possible and these new areas could be a great resource for the future.” The Egyptian ministry of water resources and irrigation reported the Toshka desert has never been exposed to pesticides or chemicals, “which ensures production of safe crops conforming to world standards.” The canal has a capacity to irrigate about 100,000 acres within the integrated irrigation system envisaged for the development of the southern valley covering over 18 miles. As part of the larger project, farms, irrigation and road network, agricultural facilities and buildings, laboratories, factories and other amenities will be built. The water pumping stations are currently making a test run, said Mahmoud Mohamadayn, chairman of the board of directors of the Egyptian-Saudi Real Estate Development. ‘This will breath a new life into the southern desert and up to the northern coast,' he told WAM in an interview published Monday. Mohamadayn said the project will turn the desert ‘into green gardens capable of producing vegetables, fruits, livestock and poultry' and will create thousands of new jobs. Despite the positives, one expert in Egyptian agriculture argued that the success of the project depends on where the crops are sold. “We know that Egypt could be entirely independent on tomato if the government wanted to be, but they maintain this import-export idea that is not really work in terms of food production,” Gamal Naguib told Bikya Masr. He argued that “Egypt must understand and work toward ensuring all new agriculture developments go to the people in this country instead of being exported out. There is a massive food and agriculture crisis and while the Toshka project could be a major step in the right direction, the government must make certain it is.” BM
