Vast desert land turned fruitful in Egypt

Twenty years ago, Nobaria, north of Cairo city in Egypt, was an expanse of bare sand. Today, this area, 130km off the west bank of the River Nile, has been transformed into a green belt.

 

Hundreds of private commercial farmers have reclaimed over one million acres of desert into productive land for agriculture.

Nobaria is now home to large scale farms of fruit, vegetables and flowers produced for local consumption and export to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the rest of Africa.

 

Egypt is virtually a desert with limited arable land and the country depends on the River Nile as a source of life. Over 90% of the country's 80 million people live along the river which covers about 5% of the total land area. Most people live in big cities like Cairo and Alexandria. Cairo has about 22 million people during the day and 18 million at night.

 

There is a deliberate policy by the government to encourage its citizens to engage in agriculture, so as to decongest big cities.

The government is giving incentives to fresh agriculture graduates who want to venture into private farming. "Fresh graduates are offered an opportunity to buy land through loan schemes. Those interested are given five acres of land, with some animals (buffalos or cows)," says engineer Mahmoud El-Rafie, director general of the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture. "On the farm is a two to three-room house, all for 5,000 Egyptian pounds (US$1,000) payable over 20 years," he says.

 

This is very cheap, considering that the price of land here is about $300 and over US$1,000 per square metre depending on the area, which most people cannot afford.

 

I travelled to Magrabi Farms (MAFA), one of the biggest agricultural enterprises on the green belt in Nobaria. MAFA, an 8,700-acre enterprise, is owned by Sherif El-Maghraby and is just one of the hundreds of such farms in Nobaria.

 

Driving through the farm, one marvels at the technology that has enabled nearly 20 varieties of fruit, vegetables and flowers to thrive in a desert all-year round without rain.

 

Oranges, bananas, strawberries, grapes and melons are among the fruit grown. The vegetables grown include green beans, coriander, lettuce and parsley.