Roundup: Egyptian gov't vows to stop construction on agricultural land to ensure food security

Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-07 00:24:42|Editor: huaxia

CAIRO, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian government will take all measures possible to put an end to the phenomenon of construction on agricultural land that poses a threat to the country's food security, Egyptian officials and experts said.

Illegal construction in Egypt has increased in recent years amid security chaos that overwhelmed the most populous Arab country after the 2011 uprising that toppled late President Hosni Mubarak.

Incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi warned recently against the ongoing construction on agricultural land, vowing to eradicate such encroachments, while Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly even noted these violations represent a matter of "life or death."

Among the measures the government has taken were the establishment of a system to monitor the violations and formation of a specialized unit to coordinate with the system's central units in reaching local provinces to eradicate them.

The area of agricultural land in Egypt is about 9.4 million feddans (3.95 million hectares), according to the latest official statistics.

"The violations on agricultural land between 2010 to 2020 amounted to about 88,000 feddans, with a total of 2 million violations," said Mohamed al-Kersh, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, adding the government has so far dealt with 1.4 million violations.

"The Ministry of Agriculture has instructed all workers in the field of land protection, agricultural directorates and associations to monitor and report any violations immediately," he told Xinhua.

According to al-Kersh, the ministry, with an operation room established to immediately follow encroachments on agricultural land, has recently launched more than 16 campaigns to remove them.

He explained that Egypt is making great efforts to reclaim desert lands as the country is facing costly challenges for treating and pumping water for the irrigation of these lands.

"Therefore, the government will never allow the construction on agricultural land, which is the source of food for Egyptians," the spokesman concluded.

Syed Khalifa, head of the Agricultural Syndicate, said Egypt has lost 1.2 million feddans of agricultural lands since 1984.

"Losing one feddan means losing food ... This means importing food products with hard currency which will put pressure on the country's economy," Khalifa told Xinhua, noting the average production per feddan is sufficient to feed 20 to 25 individuals in Egypt.

On the other side, the government will provide well-planned housing units for farmers so that they will stop building on agricultural land, Khalifa said. Ednitem

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