Sudan and Egypt. Food security partnership – The face of truth – ✍️ Ibrahim Shaqlawi
In March 2015, at the Arab economic summit in Charm El Sheikh, Sudan presented an integrated initiative to improve Arabic food security, based on a strategic vision prepared by a team of experts after months of preparation and technical workshops with the participation of the ministries of irrigation, agriculture, finance and investment. The initiative at the time represented a serious sign of the great potential of Sudan in this vital dossier.
This decision supported a study attributed to the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, a specialized German company to estimate the size of the food gap in the Arab world and the potential role of Sudan in filling. However, despite the completion of the study, practical monitoring – UP was absent, which raised questions about the mechanisms of joint Arab action and its ability to invest the available resources for the Sudanese situation.
However, in recent years, practical initiatives have emerged in Sudan to deal with increasing challenges, including the program (SASAS) to improve the production of atoms resistant to drought, and the innovation studio for resilience (ISR) with international support to improve local solutions, in addition to the IFPRI strategic policies program which provided precise data for decisions.
These efforts reflect a practical orientation of local, regional and international actors to consolidate Sudan as a reliable source of Arabic food security.
It goes beyond agricultural integration between Sudan and Egypt, because it is bilateral cooperation, because it represents part of a wider regional vision to reach sustainable food security in the Nile basin and in the Arab world. Sudan, with its fertile land and its water resources, is the strategic depth of Egyptian and Arabic food security, while Egypt has long experiences in agricultural reform and development planning.
In a practical step which was optimistic, Eng. Mahmoud Hindi, president of Sudanese Egyptian Businessmen Association, recently announced that Sudan would allocate an area of a hundred acres on Nile banks for major agricultural projects with technical and financial support from Egypt and international organizations such as FAO.
The Minister of Agriculture of the State of the Nile Salah Ali Mohamed also confirmed the launch of the rice culture project over an area of 120 acres in Atbara, with funding from FAO and the technological transport fund, praising the capacities of rice in the diversification of food and the promotion of food security.
These stages reflect an integrative policy between Sudan and Egypt, which reflects the use of natural resources and common experiences in favor of sustainable agricultural rebirth, focusing on improving the productivity of small farmers and developing agricultural infrastructure, in order to improve the sustainability of resources and to double economic return.
Likewise, agricultural integration projects cannot be separated from the reality of the Nile basin after the completion of the Renaissance dam. Ethiopia has hydroelectric capacities that affect the regulation of water flows, while Sudan offers large agricultural land for multiple seasonal culture, and Egypt has strategic experience in agricultural management and training.
If the three countries reach a clear understanding, the Renaissance dam can be transformed from the objective of tension into an unprecedented risk of regional cooperation, on the basis of an integrated system for water management, energy and land, which improves food security and sustainable development, and makes the Nile basin an integration and stability model.
These efforts come in the light of an Arabic food bill exceeding $ 44 billion per year, and the self-tension of grains by less than 50%, production has decreased due to desertification and climate change, according to the Arab organization for agricultural development (AOAD). Economists believe that the investment of Sudanese agricultural resources is associated with Egyptian expertise and Arabic financial support, is the perfect route to reduce dependence on volatile and affected world markets that suffer from low supply chains.
These trends contribute to achieving a number of objectives, which requires strengthening political and administrative coordination between the countries of the Nile Basin. In addition to increasing investments in agricultural infrastructure in Sudan. In addition to Arab and international funding for food security projects … and the design of joint training programs to transfer modern experiences and technologies, in addition to flexible agricultural policies that take into account climate change and are based on a partnership between governments, civil society and research centers.
According to the face of the truth, what is observed by agricultural cooperation between Sudan and Egypt now represents a possible change in bilateral cooperation to a strategic regional partnership, which places food security at the heart of development and stability in the Nile and the Arab world. It thus provides a practical model to convert resources and challenges to opportunities, ensuring a safer and prosperous future for the peoples of the region.
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