President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi launched Wednesday the first phase of a project aimed at expanding Egyptian farmland by 20 percent. The “Million Feddans” project is a national project that has come at the forefront Sisi’s agenda since he assumed office in June 2014. In August, Sisi ordered that the reclaimed area be increased to 1.5 million feddans (630,000 hectares). The first phase aims to expand farmland in the Farafra Oasis in the New Valley province, located in Egypt’s Western Desert. According to the state news agency MENA, the Farafra project covers 10,000 feddans that consist of 40 groundwater wells and three model villages, and it will be inhabited by new communities that will have agricultural, industrial and service-oriented activities. Agricultural Minister Essam Fayed said that 7500 feddans have been cultivated in Farafra, including 1500 feddans in wheat and 6000 in barley as a nucleus of a project that seeks to cover the need in grains and forage, MENA said. The minister added that an extensive campaign will be launched to market the project in Egypt and abroad. Sisi has focused on mega-projects such as the “new Suez Canal” project, which involves…
Egypt’s President Sisi Launches Project Aimed at Expanding Farmland by 20 Percent
December 30, 2015
