Egypt, Uganda to sign wheat farm deal soon

1905

Egypt, one of the world’s top wheat importers, will sign a deal to grow wheat in Uganda within weeks, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Wednesday.

Egypt wanted to set up farms in Nile Basin countries in order to protect its water supply and boost supply of staple crops, Abdelaziz el-Deeb told Reuters in an interview.

Egypt runs three such farms now, one in Zambia to grow corn, one in Niger mostly for rice, and a third in Tanzania for vegetables. The Uganda farm to grow wheat is the latest of a total of 14 planned farms to supply Egypt, he said.

“The government is currently revising the agreement (with Uganda) at the (Egyptian) Foreign Ministry,” said Deeb, the ministry’s director of coordination for projects with countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

“The main idea is protecting our strategic and security interests and of course the economic benefits are good,” Deeb said.

He said the deal would be signed and presented to Egypt‘s parliament for ratification “during the coming few weeks.”

“We hope that with the beginning of the financial year 2009/10 (starting July 1) we will start a tender for the equipment to be shipped to the project,” Deeb said.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country with about 76 million people, consumes around 14 million tonnes of wheat a year, of which it imports around half.

The African Union has in the past criticised what Africans call “land-grabs”, as investors, particularly from the Gulf and Asia, have bought up farmland. The African Union argues these investments do not provide benefits to poor nations.

Deeb said output from Egypt‘s Ugandan “model farm”, initially covering 200 hectares, would be shared with Uganda.

“These countries are benefiting from our expertise and appreciate the help they are getting to utilize their land,” he added.

Deeb said Egypt wanted to expand its farming activities in the Nile Basin. “We are looking to set up around 14 model farms in Nile Basin countries,” he said.

“Of course moving towards self-sufficiency in wheat is a factor in all of these projects and we decided to start with countries that are close by or are coastal for ease of transportation,” Deeb said.

Egypt said last year it also had plans to grow wheat in neighbouring Sudan, although Deeb said the Sudanese farm was outside the scope of his 14-farm project.

“There is one farm in Sudan already that the ministry has been working on and Italy has expressed interest in funding one more wheat farm there,” he said.

Egypt, where water allocation is 800 cubic metres per capita per year, falls well below the water poverty line of 1,000 cubic metres per capita a year.

A 1929 agreement between Egypt and Britain, acting on behalf of its then east African colonies, gave Cairo the right to veto projects higher up the Nile that would affect its water share.

This has created resentment among other Nile states and calls for changes to the pact, resisted by Egypt which depends on the river for the vast majority of its water resources.

Egypt has imported 5 million tonnes of overseas wheat so far this fiscal year through its main state wheat buyer the Generaal Authority for Supply Commodities, or GASC.

A row over the quality of some Russian wheat, which led to tens of thousands of tonnes of the grain being quarantined last month, has stoked calls by some lawmakers and in Egypt‘s media for a push for self-sufficiency.