The Egyptian Food Subsidy System: Structure, Performance, and Options for Reform evaluates the economic, political, and technical feasibility of reducing costs while improving or maintaining the welfare of the poor. The report addresses five questions: (1) How well does the present system target the poor? (2) How much leakage- the pilferage of subsidized foods in the distribution channel-occurs? (3) At what cost does the government transfer income to the needy? (4) How can subsidies be better targeted to the needy? And (5) What are politically feasible options for reform?

By gradually reducing the number of subsidized foods, and by focusing subsidies on foods consumed more by the poor than by the rich (like coarse baladi bread) Egyptian policymakers have found a way to self-target food subsidies to the urban poor. Yet because the rural poor do not consume as much baladi bread, this system is not as well-targeted to the rural poor.

This book’s main hypothesis is that Egypt’s large food subsidy system has been ineffective in reducing undernutrition; in fact, it may have contributed to sustaining and even aggravating both nutrition challenges. For a long time, the subsidy system provided only calorie-rich foods, at very low and constant prices and with quotas much above dietary recommendations. This system has created incentives to consume calorie-overladen and unbalanced diets, increasing the risks of child and maternal overnutrition and, at high subsidy levels, the risk of inadequate child nutrition. Moreover, the large public budget allocated to the food subsidies is unavailable for possibly more nutrition-beneficial spending, such as for child and maternal nutrition-specific interventions. The authors’ findings consistently suggest that—in addition to the well-known economic rationale for reforming the Egyptian food subsidy system—there are strong reasons to reform food subsidies due to nutrition and public health concerns. A fundamental food subsidy reform process has been under way since June 2014. The already-implemented changes can be expected to have reduced some incentives for overconsumption and may have positive dietary effects. However, further major reform efforts are needed to transform the current subsidy system into a key policy instrument in the fight against malnutrition. The findings of this book should be valuable to policy makers, analysts, development partners, and others concerned with improving food security and promoting healthy nutrition in Egypt and other developing countries with large social protection programs.

Research report on food policy and the food subsidy and rationing system in Egypt - considers the origins of the system, food security structure, commodity marketing channels and principal commoditys subsidised; examines food policy decision making and regional level economic administration, as well as distributional and nutritional implications in urban areas and rural areas; discusses current food policy trends. Bibliography, diagrams, statistical tables.

Research report on the effects of the Egyptian food rationing and food subsidy systems on income distribution and consumption - using household survey data explains distribution and food security; examines household expenditure, protein consumption, level of nutrition and percentage calorie deficiency; analyses system of income transfer and interaction with farm crop production and marketing; gives statistical analysis of choice between cooperatives and open market. Bibliography, graphs, statistical tables.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.

Malnutrition is a huge burden on the Arab Republic of Egypt’s economy. Undernutrition—manifested by poor linear growth (stunting), wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies in children and by anemia among women of reproductive age—collectively saps an estimated two percent of Egypt’s annual gross domestic product through forgone productivity and health care costs, representing an economic hemorrhaging of billions of U.S. dollars per year. Adding to this challenge is the co-occurrence of overweight and obesity among children, leading to a malnutrition double burden. Scaling Up Nutrition in the Arab Republic of Egypt aims to inform the development of nutrition policy and guide nutrition investments over the coming years. It reviews Egypt’s nutrition situation, the interventions currently in place, and the opportunities, costs, benefits, and fiscal space implications of scaling up a set of high-impact interventions to address undernutrition. The book, a collaborative effort between the World Bank and UNICEF, is targeted at all those involved in developing and implementing nutrition interventions in Egypt and beyond.