Highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, heat waves in Egypt are increasingly severe and frequent, raising the already high evaporation rate, accelerating crop transpiration, increasing soil aridity and elevating water requirements for both human and agricultural consumption in a country where water is imported. The forecasted spike in rainfall variability will affect flow of the Nile River, increasing both drought and high-flow years. While Egypt must produce more food for its rapidly growing population and confront high levels of child malnutrition, agricultural performance is slowing due to inefficient use of land, labour, water and energy along with environmental degradation and limited access to new technology, all of which favour increased incidence of pests and disease. Having tested climate smart agriculture (CSA) in four of Egypt’s most significant value chains – dairy, dates, maize and wheat – the authors demonstrate that CSA practices, technologies and policies will increase agricultural productivity and incomes, strengthen resilience to climate change and improve mitigation of its effects. These important, evidence-based findings have bearing well beyond Egypt’s borders. This publication is part of the Country Investment Highlights series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.

This book gathers contributions discussing climate change in Egypt from an agricultural perspective. Written by leading experts, it presents state-of-the-art insights and the latest research developments in light of the most recent IPCC report. Focusing on identifying the specific phenomena that affect climate change in Egypt, the book also addresses the effects of climate change in Egypt, particularly examining the quality and quantity of water resources as well as the socio-economic impacts of climate change on agricultural activities. Furthermore, it explores alternative solutions to support agriculture and food security and raises awareness of adaptation and protection as the key to adapting to the risks posed by climate change. Covering the four fundamental pillars of climate change: food security, availability, access and stability, this book is a valuable resource for stakeholders involved in achieving the 2030 sustainable development goals in Egypt and all countries with similar climatic conditions. It is also a unique source of information and updates on climate change impacts for graduates, researchers, policy planners, and decision-makers.

Abstract: This study focuses on the climate change impact on food security with a focus on the agricultural sector and the food production system in Egypt. And, it examines how consistently can policies manage to reduce climate change effects on Egypt’s food security through qualitative research conducted through in depth interviews with ex-perts in the field. Egypt is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change risks. The agricultural sector is one of the affected sectors; this sector is very critical for Egypt’s national and food security since it shapes 17% of its GDP, 40% of its labor force, and 60% of its food production. Therefore, this study examines the current agricultural system and its vulnerabilities to climate change. Moreover, it dis-cusses how policies can manage to adapt to reduce climate change effects on Egypt’s food security and how can environmental and social concerns be integrated into envi-ronmental policies, to ensure sustainability. The study found that the current policies are not effective because of the absence of a relevant legal framework, lack of coop-eration among stakeholders, and the low awareness levels. Therefore, it is recom-mended to develop a comprehensive legal framework, which would support the gov-ernment to increase the cooperation among diverse stakeholders. In addition, it is suggested that the Egyptian government builds its cooperation with non-governmental organizations to raise awareness to the effect of climate change on re-sources and train stakeholders on how to use new technologies.

This is the first Green Growth Policy Review of Egypt. It examines progress towards sustainable development and green growth over the past decade. The 40 recommendations aim to help Egypt improve its environmental performance, giving a special focus to building climate-smart, resilient and inclusive cities.

This book focuses on the soil and environmental resources and how to utilize them under Egyptian conditions to achieve tolerance to environmental abiotic stresses, i.e., drought, heat, salt, pollutants, and biotic stresses such as disease resistance. Further, it explores ways to increase productivity, improve the quality of field crops, and reduce the food gap. The application of modern technologies is an essential mechanism for improving crops' productivity through laser, seed technology, mycorrhiza, and biotechnology to enhance the yield of genotypes in sustainable farming systems. Therefore, this book discusses fundamental ways to increase productivity under various environmental circumstances. The book reflects the enormous potential held by horizontal expansion in the newly reclaimed lands in Egypt. Tapping that potential depends on developing crops that are highly tolerant to environmental stresses and mitigating the impacts of climate changes around the world to help Egypt and countries with similar weather and water deficits achieve the 2030 sustainability agenda for agriculture. Given its profundity and scope, the book offers a valuable asset for stakeholders, policy planners, decision-makers, researchers, and scientists in Egypt and worldwide.

The importance of a resilient agriculture sector in providing food security, livelihoods, and household income was highlighted in many countries by the recent pandemic, as was the capacity of the sector to cushion the negative impacts of the subsequent economic slowdown. This has been the case in Egypt, where agriculture has been resilient to the health crisis in comparison with the service and industry sectors (Breisinger et al. 2020). However, the sector’s resiliency is gradually being corroded by climate change, with lasting, harmful effects for agriculture and food systems.

With climate change, Egypt’s already arid climate will face even higher temperatures and lower rainfall over key agricultural areas, requiring further urgent adaptation investments. Data from three general circulation models of climate were used to better understand the likely effects of climate changes on Egypt’s agricultural sector. The findings show largely adverse biophysical effects of climate change by 2050. Compared to a no-climate change scenario, yields for food crops are projected to decline by over 10 percent by 2050 due to higher temperatures and water stress as well as increased salinity of irrigation water. The highest biophysical yield declines are estimated for maize, sugar crops, and fruits and vegetables. Moreover, due to the country’s dependence on food imports, Egypt is not only affected by climate change impacts at home, but also by impacts in other food producing countries. Climate change-induced increases in food prices will reduce Egypt’s food import demand, while also dampening demand for Egypt’s exports. The implications for Egypt are tighter food markets with both reduced domestic production and increased difficulties to import food making it more difficult to augment domestic food supplies. This situation suggests the need for investments in climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector. Global cooperation to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is also warranted given the high cost to Egypt’s society from adverse climate change impacts worldwide.