Egypt opens more projects to promote food security under SDG 2

14 / 06 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

Egypt has opened more projects to boost livestock wealth and dairy production with the framework the state’s ongoing efforts to achieve food security under the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) on zero hunger.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi opened on Monday animal and dairy production projects as well as automated slaughterhouses in the Integrated Animal and Dairy Production Complex in Sadat City, in Menoufia governorate.

The complex can house up to 5,000 milking livestock with a production capacity of 1.5 tons of live meat per cycle.

The complex also includes a scientific center with a veterinary hospital and six sub-farms in addition to two incinerators for safe disposal of biological waste.

The projects underline the state’s keenness on proceeding with ambitious national ventures to meet people’s needs and create more jobs in addition to achieving food security which is now at the top of the world agenda.

During the inauguration, President Sisi underlined the importance of boosting meat and milk production in order to realize self-sufficiency and export the surplus.

For his part, General Director of the Armed Forces National Service Projects Organization (NSPO) Walid Abul-Magd said that Egypt has planned to maximize its food resources through agricultural, livestock and fisheries projects, with a view to taking essential steps forward to bridge or reduce the food gap.

These project will help bridging or reducing the food gap, from which the country has been suffering for decades as a result of soil erosion and land degradation and the increase in population growth rates, he elaborated.

He added that the NSPO has established modern agricultural projects to help achieve food security in line with President Sisi’s directives, referring to cooperation with the State bodies in developing sustainable food systems that achieve food security, particularly in light of the current global repercussions and their impact on global food security.

President Sisi also called for the optimal use of lands to curb production costs in view of bloating population in Egypt and rising international prices.

The president said the state seeks to reclaim the largest possible area of lands within this context.

The president said the state is exerting strenuous efforts to control prices, adding that the prices in Egypt should have been higher than the current ones.

“A major rise in the production cost would have occurred if we dealt with energy prices according to the international rates,” he added.

He said the state worked hard to maintain stability of prices of products and transports despite international rise in energy prices and inflation rates, stressing the state’s keenness on alleviating burdens on people.

He referred to the rising inflation rates in European and western countries on the back of the Ukrainian-Russian crisis.

The president affirmed that the measures taken by the government over the past years contributed to increasing livestock production rates.

The government’s participation with the private sector also contributed to increasing the livestock projects, the president added while commenting on a speech delivered by Agriculture and Land Reclamation Minister El Sayed El Quseir.

The president expounded that meat production is not about breeding animals, it is, however, an integrated industry that need money and qualified workers, referring to the rise of fodder prices.

He noted that the state has taken several measures to launch the “the National Million Cattle Project”, adding that within seven years Egypt managed to have 71,000 cattle and this is not up to the state’s ambition.

He noted that the cost of breeding 100,000 cattle stands at EGP 5 billion, urging the private sector to team up with the government to attain the aspired goal of having 3 million cattle of improved breeds.

He added that the research center which was opened in Sadat City occupies the third place at the international level and it is open up for higher education students and those interested in the domain to work on researches that help developing this sector.

Sisi urged the private sector and civil community to effectively contribute to changing people’s lives through constructive efforts.

He noted that the Agriculture Ministry is collaborating with civil society organizations and the Decent Life Foundation to finance replacing local cattle with breeds of higher productivity.

The issue of food security is figuring high on the world’s agenda in view of the staggering climate change impact. The state is exerting painstaking efforts to proceed with Egypt Vision 2030 which focuses on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.