Water Holds Key to Egyptian Economy’s Future

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Friday - 10 July 2015

There is an acknowledged dependence between economic prosperity and sustainability, and more and more, national leaders are pointing to water as a vital element in the equation.

According to two opinion pieces published in The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Egypt must closely examine its current water use and move toward more sustainable practices to ensure a solid economic future.

The Nile is the primary source of water for the country, but supplying water to some parts of Egypt is difficult and costly. The watershed is already facing severe water stress as a result of the population’s overwhelming dependence on the river.

Irrigation From the Nile

Agriculture is one of the industries that relies on water from the Nile. Irrigation in Egypt is almost wholly from the river, due to a lack of rain in the country. Whether this can be sustained is questionable, particularly as the government moves forward with plans to increase agricultural production, “which will require using nonrenewable groundwater for 90 percent of the irrigation needs,” according to Perrihan Al-Riffai, a senior research analyst in the development strategy and governance division at the International Food Policy Research Institute and co-author of How to Build Resilience to Conflict: The Role of Food Security, writing in The Cairo Review of Global Affairs.

The Nile accounts for more than 97 percent of both Nile and groundwater sources together, of which 85 percent is used in agriculture. […] To make the most efficient use of scarce water resources, the focus should be on producing high-value, high-quality crops and livestock (such as poultry and large animals for dairy) rather than staple crops like wheat and corn.

Water Treatment and Reuse

The government should investigate other water sources, she said. These include expanding water harvesting, as well as treating wastewater for agricultural and industrial use. Only half of the nation’s wastewater is treated, and less than 25 percent of that is reused in agriculture.

Sustainable agriculture was central to the West Noubaria Rural Development Project, a project of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development. The $54.8 million project helped some 36,000 Egyptian families resettle on land that was once desert. A large emphasis of the multi-year project is helping the farmers practice better water management on crops including tomatoes, beans, grapes, and peaches. In addition to repairing irrigation canals, extension agents demonstrated sprinkler and drip irrigation specific to the soil in the area. These methods reportedly saved at least 30 percent of the available water, according to Kanayo F. Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, writing in The Cairo Review of Global Affairs.

As a result of the project, he writes:

[The] area had been transformed into a region that is recognized for its quality production of high-value fruit and vegetables. It supplies national fresh produce markets, the food processing industry, and export companies. Net annual farm household income for a typical settler family of four increased fourfold and was about $8,850 — well above the poverty benchmark of $456 per person

Adopting new irrigation technologies, and wastewater treatment and water reuse are necessary if the nation is to thrive.

Urban Water Issues

But Egypt also needs to expand its water pollution controls and wastewater treatment in urban areas. Ayman Ramadan Mohamed Ayad, an engineer and adviser at the National Water Resources Plan, noted that repairing the existing water distribution system could prevent the loss of 791 million cubic meters (more than 200 billion gallons) of water a year. He said the repairs, along with with conservation and the new sources of water, should help. Without them, he said, “Egypt will have to rely on extreme measures: The use of the non-renewable groundwater aquifers and expensive desalinization of seawater.”