CAIRO - Apparently refusing to learn from its embarrassing experience with the Toshka land-reclamation project in Upper Egypt, the Government appears to be determined to be backing the wrong horse again. Its miserable new agricultural policy was recently revealed by the Chairman of the Agricultural Development and Reconstruction Authority, Ibrahim el-Agami, who has invited investors to buy more fertile acres on the outskirts of Toshka, as well as near Al-Salam Canal in Sinai and in different governorates in the Delta and Upper Egypt. Wealthy Arab and Egyptian investors were alerted when el-Agami explained that his authority will soon announce a bigtender for the purchase of land in its new agricultural initiative. Farmers, who can't afford to bid for the new land, have warned the Government to be in for a bigger disappointment than with Toshka. The forlorn fellaheen, who, for financial reasons, struggle to cultivate five acres at the most, say that the Government should trust them more than Arab or Egyptian investors, who have let it down before. It is thought that Arab investors, in collaboration with their Egyptian counterparts, will 'freeze' the purchased land and then sell it for a much higher price. As a result, the nation's agricultural land will only carry on shrinking. Work on Toshka, which was widely regarded as an unprecedented mega landreclamation project, started about two decades ago. Hundreds of thousands of acres around Toshka were sold 'very cheaply' to Arab investors. The Government at the time gentlemanly offered to provide the investors with basic infrastructure, including water and electricity. The project was announced amidst national festivities led by the President of the Republic and the Government of former Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, and it was thought that the cultivation of these huge swathes of land and the growing of vast amounts of crops for domestic and foreign markets would compensate for the cheap price. The Government also hoped that thousands of Egyptian workers and engineers would go and work in this remote area, reducing unemployment and overcrowding in the big cities. But the project floundered. One big Arab investor there has only reclaimed and cultivated, after two decades, 30,000 of the 150,000 acres he bought. The frustration of the fellaheen was upheld by Al-Ahali leftist newspaper. Protesting at the continual privatisation in society, the newspaper urged the Government to listen carefully to the Egyptian farmers and examine their suggestions, if it wants its agricultural policies to succeed. Speaking on behalf of his frustrated colleagues, Moustafa Selim told Al-Ahali that they are ready to shoulder their tools and travel to the remotest corners of the country to cultivate land, if only the Government provides them with necessary help. “Poor Egyptian farmers need plenty of irrigation water and inexpensive fertilisers, and we mustn't be heavily taxed. We have great experience in cultivating seasonal crops. The Government's agricultural policies will only succeed if it relies on us,” he stressed.
