Egypt's Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Alaa Farouk, and Madagascar's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, François Girsou, held discussions to explore ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation across various agricultural activities. Farouk highlighted Egypt's strategy to support African countries in achieving food security, emphasizing the significant agricultural development Egypt has achieved over the past decade to ensure food security for its own population. He reaffirmed the Ministry of Agriculture's commitment to providing resources and expertise to strengthen agricultural collaboration with Madagascar, with a focus on sustainable agricultural development. He pointed to promising areas for joint cooperation, including seed production and development for strategic and vegetable crops, as well as the advancement of date palm farming in southern regions. Farouk also shared Egypt's extensive experience in agricultural development and irrigation in desert areas, particularly the large-scale reclamation of 4 million feddans of new desert lands, with further projects underway to expand Egypt's agricultural footprint. Additionally, Farouk stressed the importance of cooperation in applied research, agricultural exports, training, and capacity building. He noted Egypt's readiness to train Malagasy delegates at the Egyptian International Center for Agriculture and to strengthen agricultural education initiatives. For his part, François Girsou expressed his appreciation for the meeting and his eagerness to deepen cooperation with Egypt, particularly in the fields highlighted by Farouk. He noted that Madagascar faces severe droughts, especially in the southern regions known for rice cultivation, which have negatively impacted agricultural productivity. Girsou emphasized that Madagascar is keen to benefit from Egypt's expertise to boost agricultural productivity and resilience.
