These pillars include expanding reclaimed and cultivated land, improving crop varieties through technology to raise productivity, developing livestock, poultry, and fisheries to reduce the import gap in animal protein, and strengthening Egypt’s competitiveness in food exports while opening access to new markets.
The fifth pillar focuses on digital development and modernizing agriculture through improved farming methods.
This includes providing farmers with data through electronic platforms and artificial intelligence for source sustainability, supporting Egypt’s goal of building a high-productivity, export-oriented, and environmentally sustainable agricultural sector, according to Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk.
The remarks were made during a seminar hosted by the Egyptian-Canadian Business Council, where Farouk discussed food security strategies and national sovereignty with the council’s chairman, Moataz Raslan.
The strategy also aims to ensure stable and safe food supplies, especially amid ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes across the region, which have disrupted global supply chains and pushed up fuel prices. This has added pressure to local markets in Egypt and raised concerns about further inflation if tensions continue.
The agricultural sector currently contributes about 15 percent of Egypt’s GDP and employs around a quarter of the workforce, Farouk said. Agricultural exports reached 9.5 million tons in 2025.
Prices of some food commodities showed mixed movement in March compared to February. Cooking oil rose by about EGP 5 to 7 per litre, rice increased by around EGP 3 per kilogram, while sugar remained relatively stable.
Egypt’s food processing sector is also a key driver of growth and food security, with a market value of about $30 billion, while the wider food industry accounts for about 14 percent of the country’s exports.
The country is also expanding rural development and food security efforts, with plans to reclaim more than 3.5 million feddans in the New Delta, Toshka, and Sinai regions, in addition to the 10 million feddans already reclaimed.
About 14 seed and agricultural innovation varieties are expected to be registered in 2026, while the Arab Alliance for Potato Seed Production aims to meet 70 percent of local demand.
An electronic fertilizer payment system is also expected to be rolled out nationwide by April 2026, using the Farmer’s Card system.
In livestock, the ministry aims to reach 10 million head of high-productivity animals by 2029, which would cover about 70 percent of red meat needs. This would add to Egypt’s self-sufficiency in poultry, which has reached 98 percent, as well as full self-sufficiency in eggs, fresh milk, rice, and sugar, the minister said.
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