Egypt Launches Massive New Delta Farming Initiative

(MENAFN) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially launched the “New Delta” agricultural development project on Sunday in northwestern Egypt, with investments estimated at roughly $15 billion.

According to Egyptian authorities, the initiative is designed to strengthen food security and increase domestic production of key agricultural commodities.

The project stretches across desert areas connecting the governorates of Beheira, Giza, and Matrouh in the country’s northwest.

Officials said the development will cover around 2.2 million feddans, representing nearly 15% of Egypt’s existing agricultural land. Authorities described it as the largest horizontal agricultural expansion project in modern Egyptian history.

Infrastructure plans for the initiative include 19 major water pumping stations intended to move water deep into desert regions against the natural terrain gradient. The project also includes a 150-kilometer network of canals to transport treated agricultural drainage water from the Nile Delta to the New Delta zone.

In addition, the development has been assigned 2,000 megawatts of electricity generation capacity to support its operations.

Reports said agricultural production in the area will concentrate on strategic crops such as wheat, corn, and sugar beet to complement farming activities already established in the Nile Valley and Delta regions.

During the inauguration ceremony, Sisi said Egypt is accelerating efforts to reclaim and add approximately 4.5 million feddans of agricultural land nationwide, alongside an additional 450,000 feddans in the Sinai Peninsula.

He added that the project is expected to generate nearly 2 million jobs and provide housing opportunities for around 2 million families within newly planned urban communities.

Sisi also cautioned that ongoing regional and international instability threatens both food and energy security, emphasizing the importance of achieving stronger self-sufficiency capabilities.

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