CAIRO: The World Bank on Tuesday approved a $100 million loan to support Egypt's Farm-level Irrigation Modernization Project (FIMP). According to the Bank, the project supports Egypt's Strategy of Sustainable Agricultural Development 2030, the first phase of a long-term national program to modernize irrigation on 5 million feddans (about 0.42 hectares). The project aims to increase agricultural profitability and improve access to higher-quality water for around 140,000 small-scale farmers on 200,000 feddans in the areas of Mahmoudia, Manaifa and Meet Yazid, located in the Nile Delta “We are pleased to support Egypt's new agricultural development strategy. This project represents an important step in improving the efficiency of irrigation water use in the Nile delta,” said A. David Craig, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti. “The Bank's objectives in the agriculture and irrigation sector aims to support the government's efforts to improve the management and efficiency of the use of land and water resources. This, in turn, has made lending for agricultural water management the major sustained program,” said Craig. Last March, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved a $30 million loan to Egypt as additional financing for the Second National Drainage Project, which aims to support the government's efforts in increasing the agriculture productivity of irrigated lands through the improved drainage of agricultural lands and the provision of all irrigated areas with subsurface drains. The World Bank also approved a $330 million loan as additional financing for the Egypt National Railways Restructuring Project, which is to assist the Government in improving the reliability, efficiency and safety of the railways' services through signaling and track renewal investments, the modernization of Egypt National Railways (ENR) management and operating practices in order to enhance the railways' responsiveness to economic and social needs and to strengthen the financial viability of ENR. BM
