Egypt: Smallholder contract farming for high-value and ... - IFAD

development or adoption of new varieties, and post-harvest handling. At first, these initiatives
involved international development agencies, but, as professional organizations within the
horticulture sector have become stronger, many initiatives are being undertaken by them or directly
by exporters. Some companies involved in supplying the pharmaceutical industry have their own
research departments (e.g. the Sekem Group and Agrofood Egypt).
Private-sector service providers
Horticultural crop production advisory services. Professional horticulture associations sell
advisory services using their own staff or through outsourcing to selected professionals. The services
are highly specialized professional-quality services, and the cost appears to be of little relevance
compared with the return. Farmer associations contracted to grow horticultural produce for an
exporter also make use of these services through the exporter, though they pay for the services. An
increasing number of private advisers are also offering services.
Organic certification. The Egyptian Centre of Organic Agriculture is accredited to certification
bodies in Europe and the United States. In addition to organic certification, it also provides
GlobalGAP, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and International Organization
for Standardization certifications.
Business service providers. There are many business associations for women and men throughout
the country that provide business development services for their members. The number of
associations selling such services is rapidly increasing; the quality varies, but there are many wellqualified
associations available.
Professional civil society associations
A number of professional associations have developed over the past decade. They are steadily
improving their performance both in providing direct services to members (technical training,
GlobalGAP training, management training, organic certifications, and HACCP and International
Organization for Standardization 9000 and 22000) and in lobbying for better conditions. Among
other results are the following: (i) the cold-storage platform at Cairo airport and at Luxor (Luxor
airport is under construction); (ii) changes in the regulations on imports of planting materials to
allow for the use of imported planting materials in the production of export crops, thereby
reducing the time needed from two years to two weeks; and (iii) removal of the import tax on
second-hand refrigerated trucks. The most important professional associations are described below.
Horticultural Export Improvement Association. The objective of the Horticultural Export
Improvement Association is to improve the capacity of Egyptian exporters to export high-quality
horticultural products. Members handle the vast majority of fresh fruit and vegetable exports. The
association is composed of more than 150 large growers and exporters of fresh horticultural products
and is currently expanding into processed food. Members also include input suppliers, suppliers of
packaging materials, transporters, freight-forwarding companies, and cold-storage facility providers.
It has a quality control unit that offers direct technical assistance to member growers and shippers,
but also sells its services to non-member producers who wish to sell to members.
The association has an active policy advocacy committee. Its newsletter highlights policy
constraints, and, because several members also belong to Arab Communication Consult, policy issues
are brought to the attention of the Minister of Foreign Trade during regularly scheduled monthly
meetings. One noteworthy example of advocacy has involved the association’s efforts to establish the
perishables cold-storage terminal at Cairo airport. The association has organized the commodity
councils on table grapes, strawberries, melons, mangoes, green beans, cut flowers, nurseries, organic
agriculture, and food processing. It also provides technical assistance to members and non-members.
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