Policy Briefs
Mechanization to Drive A Process for Fertilizer Subsidy Reform in Egypt
No.
22
Date
December, 2016
Topic
Q1. Agriculture
In a nutshell
- Current modalities for the distribution of subsidized fertilizer, together with national campaigns for wheat production, may be stifling nutritional security within rural areas.
- Reliable access to water is a critical constraint to enhanced agricultural productivity for small Egyptian landowners, thereby necessitating the need for equitable and affordable access to mechanized water and labor saving technologies.
- With human and financial resources within Egypt’s public agricultural extension services dwindling over the past two decades, the role of private and civil society advisory services in generating and disseminating knowledge is of key contemporary importance.
- In post-2011 Egypt, the delivery of publicly subsidized fertilizer and improved seed varieties will be more effective if undertaken in collaboration with private machinery service providers, backstopped technically through effective public extension systems, and particularly so when tied to technologies which enhance land and water productivity.
- A reform of the fertilizer subsidy program in Egypt, similar to recent bread subsidy reforms, is likely to allow for a more diverse set of crop mix choices and enhanced nutritional availability within rural areas.
