Investment Project #5, High-Value Agriculture and ... - Abt Associates

Comprehensive
Development Plan for the
City of Luxor, Egypt –
Investment Project #5,
High-Value Agriculture
and Agroprocessing
Industries in Luxor City
Cambridge, MA
Lexington, MA
Hadley, MA
Bethesda, MD
Washington, DC
Chicago, IL
Cairo, Egypt
Johannesburg, South Africa
Executive Summary
January 2000
Prepared for
The Ministry of Housing, Utilities
and Urban Communities //
Research and Studies
Organization, Egypt
Abt Associates Inc.
55 Wheeler Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Prepared by
Gabriel Abraham
Alan Edmond
Ashraf Bakr

The Development of High-Value agriculture in Luxor City, Egypt
Investment Project #5
Establishment of High-value Agriculture and Agroprocessing Industrie s in Luxor
2.0 Executive Summary
The Comprehensive Development for the City of Luxor (CDCL) is a long range plan that the Government
of Egypt (GOE) and the Higher Council for the City of Luxor (HCLC) consider a key to the orderly
growth of the city, the region, and the Upper Egypt tourism industry, all of which face a great expansion
over the next two decades. Recent experience in the Red Sea area points to the potential for tremendous
benefits to those local and regional economies which are assisted by comprehensive physical plans.
Central to the CDCL is the need for economic growth which includes local residents in the economic
sectors, and which will serve the needs of a greatly expanded tourism industry and the naturally growing
local population. As one of the six investment projects developed as central themes for the CDCL by
working groups (WG) and the MHUUC, high-value agriculture is seen as one of the economic
opportunities that Luxor is poised to enjoy.
This investment project is a stand-alone document which provides a description of the High-value
Agriculture and Agroprocessing Industries prospects for the Luxor region, and as a component of the
overall CDCL. It outlines the importance of High-value Agriculture and Agroprocessing Industries, the
prerequisites that go into making it successful, and the prospects for Luxor to participate in a vibrant highvalue
agriculture industry. High-value Agriculture and Agroprocessing Industries can therefore help meet
the contemporary needs of the local residents, a prerequisite for the overall CDCL to be successful.
This document also serves as a component of the Structure Plan for Luxor that may be used as
background and reference material for investors, government officials, and anyone interested in the
potential for high-value horticulture in Luxor’s future. It is a guide for further actions which will help
realize the CDCL’s goals.
Among the leading agricultural countries of the region, Egypt is uniquely situated to produce and market
high quality horticultural products from both existing and reclaimed land. Land reclamation projects are
widespread in Egypt, and are based on well-known techniques, particularly in the areas of irrigation,
fertilizers, and crop management.
The Nile Valley in the Luxor region can support the production of vegetables and fruits which will supply
the growing tourist facilities in the area as well as the growing local population. It is also possible that
eventually the region will be able to supply the Middle East and Europe with certain of those products.
Small-scale agriculture is well established in the area. Through land reclamation and efforts to improve
crop choice and management, as well as post harvest processes, small-scale agriculture can be much more
profitable for local growers. High quality fruits and vegetables which are locally grown will reach hotel
tables in significant volumes.
A major goal, then, is to maximize the effectiveness of local farming efforts through crop management
and marketing improvements. A second goal is the protection of open spaces by providing farming uses
of the land which are complementary to the development of the East Bank in particular for tourism and
new residential and commercial development.
The agricultural sector in Egypt is continuing to become decentralized and to enjoy a loosening of
restrictions on land use, pricing, and export controls. A number of government institutions serve the
agricultural sector, yet the trend is toward privatization of cultivation, processing, marketing, and
9

The Development of High-Value agriculture in Luxor City, Egypt
shipping of products. Reclamation of land continues on a large scale, with auctioning of land and
farmsteading programs leading to private sector tenancy and ownership of both large tracts and small
parcels.
The reclamation projects have produced a solid body of lessons learned. Horizontal growth of the
farming sector has been aided greatly by having the private sector manage production and distribution,
while the public sector provides arable land and technical assistance. The government enables expansion
and provides basic infrastructure facilities, and the private sector builds the secondary infrastructure and
other facilities needed for farm families and agribusinesses.
This project is highly consistent with the GOE’s overall plans for agricultural expansion and the Upper
Egypt 2017 Plan. Horticulture is a priority for the GOE, which has a policy of limiting sugar cane
production in favor of high-value, low water consuming crops on new lands. Various farmsteading
programs have stressed the need for high-value crops, and in some cases water has been allocated for new
lands based on the ability of the region to save water by using modern subsurface drip irrigation, and by
moving away from sugar cane production or making such production less demanding on water supplies.
The project envisioned for Luxor is based on several factors which hold great promise. Luxor has several
highly favorable characteristics for horticultural production. Among those are its excellent transportation
systems, its access to Nile water, its large agricultural labor pool, its existing and projected tourist
population that are based on solid archaeological attractions, and the climate that provides for three to
four crops per year.
Luxor is attractive as an area for agricultural investment, in conjunction with other industries which
support tourism in general. The GOE has announced the reclamation of up to 18,000 feddans in the area,
as well as the massive New Valley reclamation project to the South.
As with other projects in the CDCL, the Luxor high-value agricultural project will be managed through a
cooperative arrangement among government agencies and the private sector. The Ministry of Agriculture
and Land Reclamation (MALR) will be the overall ministry implementing body, working in close
collaboration with the HCLC. Based on the standard CDCL model, a Project Implementation Unit will
be established, comprised of experts from an array of skill areas having to do with regional development.
Agricultural specialists from the public and private sectors will be involved at all stages of technical
assistance.
The project will determine the most advantageous ways in which small plots might be managed for the
highest yields and best marketing possibilities. This might include the optimization of grower
associations.
The project will assist the HCLC in developing its capacity to manage some of the land use control issues
necessary for this effort to be a successful part of the CDCL. This will include staff assistance and
training in certain social planning areas as well as the technical aspects of land use control and long range
planning. The project will also contribute to the upgrading of the local agricultural school curriculum and
the outreach (extension) services to be provided by the MALR and private agencies.
Target groups to benefit from the project are recent graduates, landless residents, and investors in the
larger parcels. Secondary beneficiaries will be those involved in storage and shipping, and retail markets
for the horticultural products.
Environmental consequences of the program will be overwhelmingly positive, resulting in much
improved land use practices, as well as all the benefits of green space. Care must be exercised in the
10

The Development of High-Value agriculture in Luxor City, Egypt
design of farm parcels, especially as to their potential for producing chemical and other harmful runoff
onto adjoining lands and into the canal system.
There will be a low amount of risk to investors and farmsteaders, in that increased demand for
horticultural products is expected to remain strong and grow among the general population and the tourist
groups.
This project will require the marshaling of skills needed to maintain a competitive advantage for local
farmers in the horticultural marketplace. There will need to be a concerted technical assistance effort to
ensure the highest quality of management in the planting, growing, harvesting, and post harvest stages of
production, as well as coordinated marketing effort in the local economy.
11