Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, held high-level discussions with Mafa Chipeta, former international expert in agricultural strategy and policy formulation at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Baboucarr Manneh, Director General of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice). The talks centred on advancing Egypt's agricultural development strategies and fostering deeper partnerships and investment across African countries. The meeting, also attended by Saad Moussa, Supervisor of External Agricultural Relations, examined ways to enhance Egypt's agricultural policies in the face of global sectoral challenges, while leveraging available opportunities and resources to achieve sustainable agricultural growth at the national and regional levels. Minister Farouk reaffirmed Egypt's strategic vision for achieving food security and sustainable development by raising crop productivity, improving farmers' livelihoods, and boosting the competitiveness of Egyptian agricultural products in global markets. He emphasised the importance of leveraging international expertise to meet these goals. Farouk also underlined Egypt's strong commitment—guided by the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi—to strengthening cooperation with African countries, highlighting the continent as a natural extension of Egypt's development agenda. He noted that integration and coordination across African states are essential to realising shared development objectives. As part of this vision, Farouk announced the formation of a specialised committee comprising members of both the House of Representatives and Senate, alongside leading investors, scientists, and experts, to explore mechanisms for encouraging Egyptian investment in agricultural projects across Africa. He welcomed the collaboration of the international experts present in shaping the committee's strategy and implementing actionable recommendations. The Minister also stressed Egypt's ongoing efforts to promote private sector engagement in development, noting recent reforms to enhance the country's agricultural investment climate. During the meeting, AfricaRice Director General Baboucarr Manneh outlined the centre's structure and mission. Headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, AfricaRice includes 28 African member states. He revealed plans to organise a scientific and investment forum in Cairo later this year, in partnership with Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and other regional and international bodies. The forum will aim to establish a mechanism for expanding rice cultivation and agricultural investment across Africa while transferring Egypt's extensive expertise in rice production to support food security efforts continent-wide. Minister Farouk directed the External Agricultural Relations Department to coordinate closely with AfricaRice on the initiative. Mafa Chipeta commended Egypt's efforts in agricultural development and shared key international insights on designing and implementing strategic agricultural policies. He stressed the importance of innovation, sustainability, climate adaptation, private sector empowerment, and community engagement, along with improving yields of key strategic crops. The talks also addressed other pressing themes, including the promotion of climate-smart agriculture, development of agricultural value chains, support for smallholder farmers, sustainable resource management, and the adoption of modern technologies to boost production efficiency. All parties agreed on the vital importance of continued technical cooperation and knowledge exchange between Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture and international institutions. These efforts aim to craft forward-looking, comprehensive agricultural policies that can meet sustainability and food security goals for Egypt and beyond. The meeting reflects the Ministry's continued commitment to drawing on global expertise and strengthening international partnerships to support sustainable agricultural development across Egypt and the wider African continent.
