Feed the Future Egypt Rural Agribusiness Strengthening Project
Highlights
- Smallholder farmers are not benefitting from Egypt’s sophisticated horticulture sector.
- Abt is strengthening the horticulture market system with a buyer-led approach.
- With better markets and increased productivity, farmer incomes will increase.
Growing demand for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables has enabled Egypt to solidify its presence in quality-conscious markets in Europe, the Gulf and sub-Saharan Africa. However, smallholder farmers in Upper Egypt—which benefits from fertile soil, good water quality and an early growing season—have been slow to exploit these trends. They hesitate to transition from low-margin traditional crops into higher-value, premium horticulture production. Barriers range from fragmented supply chains and unfavorable financing to inefficient transport and logistics systems.
Abt supports development of an inclusive horticulture market system in Upper Egypt that integrates smallholder farmers into high-end local and international markets using a buyer-led approach. Abt helps buyers connect with smallholder farmer suppliers who are part of producer organizations and supports farmers’ efforts to meet requirements for quality, quantity and timeliness. Abt’s capacity building extends to pack houses and processors who seek to upgrade their operations. Partnerships with agricultural universities and technical schools help build the next generation’s agricultural workforce.
The project will benefit small farmers and Egypt’s horticulture industry as a whole. Through these interventions, Abt will enable market actors to improve their response to domestic and international demands. The project will decrease time-to-market and costs by facilitating access to improved supply chain infrastructure. This will ultimately improve the industry’s competitiveness. By the end of five years, the project will:
- Increase average incomes for 120,000 small farmers.
- Double the incomes of a minimum of 25,000 small farmers.
- Create 12,000 sustainable jobs in agri-businesses.
- Improve agricultural water-use efficiency over 22,000 hectares.
- Leverage $10 million dollars through partnerships with Egyptian firms and agricultural organizations.
Related:
- Innovations in Agribusiness Engagement: New Models from Egypt (Technical Brief)
- Remote Agribusiness Engagement during COVID-19 (Technical Brief)
- Private Sector Engagement Models (Technical Brief)
- USAID and PepsiCo Boost Egyptian Farmers’ Yields (Story)
- Unlocking the Private Sector - featuring Dr. Walid Sallam (Webinar)