Aswan – In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was pleased to launch a new food security and agribusiness support project in Upper Egypt today.  Valued at $23 million, the project will help increase farmers’ incomes by introducing innovative technologies and promoting international quality standards certification.  Over 120 people attended the launch, including local government officials and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, the private sector, and academic institutions. 

“This project uses a market-driven approach to bring benefits to farmers, food processors, transporters, and buyers,” said Dr. William Patterson from the USAID mission in Egypt.  “It will help farmers be more responsive to the needs of domestic and foreign buyers, and by increasing incomes and teaching healthy nutrition, it will improve families’ health.” 

Developed in coordination with technical experts at the Ministry and in Upper Egypt, the five-year project will introduce innovative technologies to enable farmers to increase yields, and it will encourage policies that promote inclusion and fair play in agricultural business. 

This project is part of the U.S. Presidential Initiative Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.  It is implemented in Egypt by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), whose support to Egyptian agriculture over the past 40 years has improved productivity, exports, and earnings for Egyptian farmers.