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The agricultural land might disappear in Egypt in 60 years

Land Center for Human Rights

Cairo 5/1/2010
Press Release

The agricultural policy is dealt in parts, and there is no future views
The agricultural land might disappear in Egypt in 60 years

Land Center for Human rights held a workshop, entitled "The Egyptian farmer is in danger; his present is stolen, and his future is in danger", in its headquarter in Cairo, on Monday 28/12/2009. 75 participants from many governorates, like Cairo, Giza, 6th of October, Dakahleyya, Fayyoum, and Kena did attend the workshop as representatives for rural civil society organization, in addition to villagers' leadership, parties in the rural areas, and a group of media and press people, who did attend as well.

The proceedings of session did start as following;
It discussed the first axis of the workshop subject matters, which is "Water crisis is a painful reality, and dangerous future", headed by Osama Bedeir, Land Center of Human Rights, where he asserted that the farmer's future is lost because the governmental consecutive decisions are random and irresponsible, and the governmental policies are failing. He added that we do import half of our food, though farmers form half the Egyptian population, and they deserve care more than others.

Also, Egypt has ratified many human rights agreements, which became a part of the Egyptian legislation, so the government is obliged to work through it and respect the villagers' rights, on contrary to the current status-quo situation.

Then, Professor/Abdul Sabour Ahmed, the professor of agricultural guidance in the research center, spoke, where he stressed on the need to give the farmer his rights of water, and participation in the process of decision making. He clarified that Egypt water resources are 63 billion meter square, where 85% of them are used in agricultural consuming; and by the increase in population, we will need 10325 billion meter square in 2025.

Then Professor/ Samer El-Mofty, the former secretary general of the center of desert studies and science, spoke. He clarified that according to the separating belt countries ranking, stated on the study of UNESCO in 1953, Egypt is the first country; where the individual's annual share of water has decreased from 1000 meter square to 637, and the rain belt in Ethiopia springs has moved, where that belt was providing the Nile with 85% of it water, and the tropic hill with 15%. He concluded that we are facing a disastrous decrease of water, because the Nile valley needs of water suffer a shortage of 9 billions meter square, so we must cope with that by stopping the misuse of water; whether by reducing the amount of water used and choosing the suitable crops structural compound needed to guide the use of water, from one side, or by increasing the resources of the Nile with 30% from the other side. However, the second choice would lead to a disastrous problems, expose the valley and the delta to flood, and expose the south of Egypt to drown, which requires the urgent governmental start of adopting advanced projects that exploits the solar energy, as an alternative source used for energy and desalination of the sea water, the look for an alternative source of energy, like the environment friendly nuclear reactors, and to decrease the emissions of carbon dioxide gas. The session stressed on the need to provide safe irrigational water to farmer, in amount and quality, so he can live well and produce more.

Second session:

This session was discussing the axis of the horizontal expansion, whether it is an add or a waste. This session was headed by Saad Hagras, the director of the world today newspaper, who asserted that the policies of the horizontal and vertical expansion did not solve the agricultural problems, as a result of the absence of the prospective governmental view. He assured that the agricultural land might disappear in 60 years, mean while the consecutive governments deal with the current problems only. It is irresponsible and ironic to speak about a horizontal or vertical expansion, without clarifying the variations of the global climate that would drown the delta and affect the Nile water, Mr. Hagras added. Mr. Hagras launched an acute attack against Nazif's government, which ignores these dangers that affect the next generations, and even, may be, the current generation; the catastrophe is looming!!

Then, Professor Salem El-Khouly, professor of rural sociology, Azhar University, spoke. He clarified the reasons and motives that derives to more of the horizontal expansion, like the population, economic, cultural, and political problems that confront the Egyptian society in general, and the countryside in particular. He added that the main clue, which can solve those problems, is the success of the government to reclaim and re-cultivate new lands, and establishing a new community on those new lands, so as to solve the problem of the population capacity; where 98% of the population lives on the valley, which is 5% of the total Egyptian area. He added also that the government needs to solve the problems of unemployment and agricultural immigration, but the variety of problems; 28 problems, in a scientific study, in 2006, lead to the failure of those policies, pertaining to reclaiming and cultivation.

Then Emad Habib, a journalist and editor on TV shows spoke. He warned from the threat of the greens disappearance in Egypt, results from the so many violations, which reaches in the election season 25,000 case, while the election is coming. He stated that the government trespasses the farmers' property, claiming that they exploit them for the public needs, those seized lands ranges from 50,000 to 75,000 Fadden annually. He mentioned a scientific study that revealed Egypt has lost 36% of its agricultural lands, in the second half of the twentieth century, while the agriculture represents the prominent strategic factor for the nation.

The session was concluded with a number of inputs, confirming that the governments shows inaction in preserving the old agricultural land, because of the corruption in ministry, on the time we are in need for each single agricultural acre.

Third session:

This session was headed by Azza Suleiman, the chairperson of women's cases center, and it was entitled "The agricultural legislations, between past, present, and the future."

She illustrated that the cases of farmers, agriculture, and land constitute sides of one important equation, and the decision makers shall pay the attention to the importance of this fact, on the time we suffer the humiliating circumstances of farmers. She added that the agricultural legislations are considered as an important column of this situation. Then, Dr. Emad El-Husseiny, the assistance professor at the institution of agricultural guidance and rural development, spoke, referring to the agricultural legislations and their impacts. He raised many questions; what are those regulations? Why did they were issued from the first place? Were there better legislations? What are the proceedings of passing those legislations? And, finally, does the farmer participate in those proceedings?

Dr. Husseiny showed that those regulations are not based on scientific methodology, and they are passed without consulting the people affected by the legislations. He confirmed that legislators issue the legislations without discussions, where the acceptances come automatically, without paying any consideration to the farmer; the subject matter of those laws, and the one who is mainly affected by them.

Then, Mohammed Mohiey, the president of the human development association, spoke, explaining the historical evolution of land ownership in Egypt since the Pharaohs' era, where the pharaoh was the owner of the land, and the farmer cultivated them for the king and the priests. The situation was the same in the era of the invaders from the Persians, the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Mamluks, Ottomans, until the reign of Mohamed Ali in 1842. On that era, Mohamed Ali issued, what can be called, the law of the land monopoly,and made himself the sole owner, where the phenomenon, known as feudal, started at that time, until the reign of Said, who passed Saied's regulations, and concluded legal acts on the land, like sale, gift or mortgage as a repay for debts, and this was the first codification for the agricultural lands, ending eras of monopoly of agricultural land.

Mr. Mohiey stressed that the Egyptian farmer is the base of the ancient civilization, and the axis of the modern revolution. Mohiey mentioned that the farmers suffered the cruelty of the nature and rulers, so it is the time to protect him, and care for him with legislations that preserve his rights.

Inputs of this session focused on the cruelty of the legislations pertaining to reform, restructure, and the free market, leading to the deterioration of the farmer's livings, and drowning him with debts.

Session four:

This session discussed the axis of "agricultural cooperatives, and civil society, an absent role or intended absence". This session was headed by Mona Ezzat, a journalist and human rights activists. Ms. Ezzat focused on the role of civil society organizations, their importance, and their active and effective role in resolving farmers' problems, on the levels of production and water. After that, Ashraf Abdullah, a researcher in the rural society section, the center of agricultural research spoke. He referred to the establishment of cooperatives by Omar Lotfy, on 1908, then the issuance of the first cooperative legislation in 1923, the law 27, 1923, then the agricultural reclamation law no. 28, 1952, ending with the law no. 117, 1976, pertaining to Bank of agricultural development, and the villages banks that had the functions of the cooperatives.

Then Dr.Osama Albehnsawy, professor of agricultural economics at Al Azhar University in Cairo, spoke, illustrating that the concept of cooperation extends throughout history. And the Egyptian cooperative family includes 12 million members under 80,000 cooperative organizations, to protect low-income families and provide technical and logistic support to farmers, under the free economy and turn the agricultural land possession decay. Dr. Albehnsawy focused, on this meeting,on the multiplicity of images and forms of governmental control over agricultural cooperatives, claiming that this control is for sake of the supervision and implementation of the plan of the State ... etc. As a consequence, all the debates, took place between researchers, experts, academics who presented the worksheets, farmers' leaders, representatives of civil society organizations and rural parties, and the media men, who attended the past four meetings, led to a number of points associated with the painful reality of the Egyptian farmers and how to protect their rights in accordance with the international treaties, and these points are:

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