Inclusive Agricultural Value Chain in Egypt “Opportunities for Co-operation, Trade and Investment

Background
The Egyptian agriculture faces many threats and challenges including old cultivation techniques, lack of information on marketing for small farmers, poverty, degradation of natural resources and institutional constraints. The inclusive agribusiness approach has been championed as a key strategy to address these challenges and, as a result, solve the persistent problem of food and nutrition insecurity.

It entails the integration of low-income smallholder populations in commercially viable value chains, as suppliers, either distributors or consumers, thus contributing to poverty alleviation and food security.

Inclusive agribusiness is about how business, government and civil society collaborate and collaborate to develop innovative inclusive business models, create an enabling policy environment, improve financing and establish regimes of transparency and accountability.

Egypt is the powerhouse of agribusiness in the MENA region. With more than 100 million souls, it is the biggest consumer market and has the biggest labor supply. Egypt’s food system in diverse, yet divided. There are great opportunities in closing the gap between the old lands and the new lands, lower and upper Egypt, city and country side, men and women, young and old, public and private sectors, and the haves and the have nots.

There is also a great opportunity in connecting Europe and Egypt as a gateway to Africa. There is a lot we can learn from each other if we focus on mutual interest and mutual benefits.
In this hybrid event, we will reflect on lessons from Egypt and other African countries to learn where German and Dutch cooperation can make a difference in connecting people for an inclusive and diverse food system.

The event was focusing on the following:

• Results of the ‘Value chain analysis study in Egypt’.
• Potential business opportunities in Inclusive agriculture in Egypt.
• Opportunities for collaboration to support inclusive agribusiness in Egypt (sharing experience from Dutch and German cooperation).
• Policy opportunities for facilitating investment in inclusive agriculture.