SPATIAL CRITERIA TO NOMINATE EGYPTIAN GOVERNORATES TO ADOPT MODERN GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT APRROACHES TO MAXIMIZE THE DEVELOPMENTAL REVENUES OF THEIR LAND RECLAMATION PROJECTS

Abstract

Egypt has begun adopting the policy of horizontal agricultural expansion since 1954 so far through establishing 74 land reclamation projects aiming to reclaim more than 4.043 million acres in the period 1954 to 2019. This policy is intended to achieve myriad objectives comprising; the economic sectoral objectives for agriculture economic sector (to secure the national food security through more agricultural expansion and bridging the national food gap); the Social objectives to generate more jobs and land-ownerships for the poor farmers and fresh graduates; and the spatial planning objectives including (to achieve the anticipated balanced spatial development by spreading the urban expansion in the desert areas outside the valley and the delta, to absorb rural and urban overspills, to establish new urban settlements, reducing rural poverty and unemployment, and to generate more job opportunities). However, Most of these projects are still far behind achieving any of their socio-economic and spatial objectives. Paradoxically, these projects have not created the proper investment milieu to lure either domestic or global agro- commercial business or agro-industrial business. Moreover, they have failed to engage in globally Agro - Business value / supply chains and it is unable to adopt the recent global approaches of planning the agro- land reclamation projects. Therefore, this research assumes that in order to leverage the positive impacts and developmental revenues of these projects, they have to be more engaged and integrated with the global network of agricultural value/supply chains that are controlled by a limited number of multinational global companies combined with increasing their competitiveness to attract more foreign direct investment and MNCs. This in turn entails to adopt new farming methods particularly the contracting agricultural method. Given the fact that most of these policy transformations will be occurred in the space /spatial context, which in turn has raised the question about the readiness of the Egyptian governorates to adopt such policy directions and on what basis the first priority governorates will be selected. Thus, this research will contribute to the local Egyptian context by formulating the most proper spatial criteria which are able to gauge the readiness of the Egyptian governorates to adopt these recent global policy directions. Moreover, it will deduce the key affecting factors which are able to explain the disparities among Egyptian governorates’ readiness. The research concluded that the most ready Egyptian governorates to employ and adopt these modern global agricultural policy approaches are those located in West Delta belt, particularly Beheira Governorate and Alexandria, followed by Aswan governorate (Toshka mega project the most receipt of agricultural FDI), then those located in the auspice of Sues Canal region, especially Port Said and North Sinai (alongside Al-Salam or peace Canal) and finally the governorates of the national mega project to reclaim 1.5 million acres comprising of Matruh governorate (Al-Mughara), Menyia governorate (West Minya Plain) and New Valley governorate (Farafra project). The results affirmed the existence of four ruling and key factors which are able to explain 92% of the variation in the capabilities and readiness of the Egyptian governorates to adopt these modern global agricultural development approaches. The first leading factor is the availability of future land reclamation expansion areas which are well served and equipped with all elements of agricultural infrastructure particularly the provision of advanced irrigation system, while the second factor is the readiness to engage with global agricultural supply/value chains comprising the variables of; the existing size of agricultural exports, specializing in cultivating export crops, the ability of attracting agricultural FDI, and the size of reclaimed areas adopting currently the contractual farming method with local and global partnerships/MNCs.