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The project will divert water from the Nile to the reclaimed lands in the West Delta region, while the introduction of the private sector for the first time in Egypt could leave small farmers behind.
The World Bank signed an agreement with the government of Egypt on September 1 for a project aimed at reclaiming more arable land in the West Delta region between Cairo and Alexandria. The Bank’s $145 million loan will finance the construction of an irrigation system that will divert water from the Nile – the source of 95 percent of Egypt’s fresh water – to supply modern, export-oriented farms on reclaimed desert lands that have severely depleted the groundwater sources.
Despite optimistic estimates by both the World Bank and Egyptian officials that the project will reclaim over 37,000 hectares of arable land in the West Delta, some experts argue that the implementation of the project could simultaneously devastate further the agricultural lands along the Old Delta, which is predominantly farmed by small landowners, who could be deprived of adequate water to irrigate their lands.
At the same time, contrary to the claims of project proponents that the reclamation of additional lands in the West Delta will generate significant employment, the introduction of new technologies is expected to limit the amount of new jobs. Instead, there is a very real concern that the diversion of water will have a serious impact on the livelihoods of thousands of subsistence farmers in the fertile lands of the Old Delta in favor of the largely wealthy and well-connected businessmen who run lucrative, private farms in the reclaimed lands. Farmers organizations have expressed concern that poor farmers in the Old Delta, if unable to access sufficient water, could find themselves compelled to give up their plots and become laborers in the West Delta.
Meanwhile, considering that the project’s beneficiaries will mainly be investors with significant capital, advocates have questioned the Bank’s poverty reduction rationale in pursuing the project. Some have suggested that the World Bank pushed for the government to pass a controversial law last year allowing private ownership and management of irrigation, in order to accommodate the West Delta project as a public-private partnership (PPP). This represents an unprecedented change in Egypt, where irrigation of the Nile has remained under strict public control for thousands of years. While government authorities have made it clear that the irrigation of the fertile lands of the Old Delta will remain in public hands, the change in the law and the West Delta project itself are establishing a new precedent in terms of water access in Egypt, which the Bank hopes will be replicated elsewhere in the country. It remains to be seen, however, whether this new approach will guarantee water access for the poor as the country faces increasing water stress.
Resources
World Bank, Egypt ink $145 million irrigation loan by Alex Dziadosz, Daily News Egypt, September 2, 2008West Delta project page (World Bank website)