CAIRO, April 2, 2018 - Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel Ati, stated on Monday that the country resorts to two main approaches to address water shortage: imports and water recycling. Addressing the American Chamber of Commerce, Minister Abdel Ati said the government imports wheat and some goods with the key aim of saving water used in agriculture, bearing in mind that agriculture is the largest water consumer in Egypt. He, meanwhile, pointed out that Egypt is the world's second largest country and Africa's only country in recycling and reusing water. Regarding water consumption, the minister said that Egypt's water consumption has reached 80 billion cubic metres per year, including 55 billion cubic metres from the River Nile. The ministry deal with this water deficit by recycling and reusing water. In a related context, the minister referred to the anticipated ministerial meeting in Sudan on Wednesday to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue, adding the negotiations are expected to resume once the new Ethiopian government is formed. The minister, meanwhile, emphasised that Egypt is not against the development efforts in Sudan and Ethiopia, underlining the necessity to give the water issue a top priority since it is considered a national security issue. The countries plagued with terror groups or witness crisis such as Darfur crisis in Sudan are suffering from water shortage. " Losing 2 per cent of Egypt's water , which is equivalent to one million cubic metre, means that 200,000 families would lose their jobs, making them more exposed to extremism," the minister added. The minister's speech also highlighted the ministry's investment strategy in water sector during the period 2017-2037 with total investments of LE900 billion. In another development, the minister presented the ministry's water strategy 2050 which rely on four aspects: Purification, rationalisation, development of water resources and public awareness.
