ReporlNo. 8047.EGT * Arab Republicof Egypt Land ReclamationSubsector Review February1,1990 Public Disclosure Authorized Europe,Middle East and North Africa Region CountryDepartment IlIl AgricultureOperations Division FOR OFFICIALUSE ONLY -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I- .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Public Disclosure Authorized .,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~9 .~~~~~~~~~~. 5~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~ .3 . (, Public Disclosure Authorized ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ., ' C' /; .W Ž5 ,(5.t (')'. J C,~~~~~~~~~~~~~a * fE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'0 ; DocumnentoftheWorldBank PThisdocument has a restricted'distributionand maybe usedjy ,recipientsl -'. ' . ' onlyin theperformance of their official dities. Its contents nay ihototherwise . '. , Public Disclosure Authorized -: r sd w1thtoutWork Btankauthorization. 9' O . , f - ss -, ~ ~ '.9o ~ ~ N . 5f ot < a (- ' '., \;, o ' '~~~~~. >9t I Currency Eguivalents Currency Unit - Egyptian Pound (LE) LE 1.00 - US$ 0.408 US$1.00 - LE 2.45 Weifhts and Measures 1 feddan (fed) - 1.038 acres 1 feddan (fed) - 0.420 hectares (ha) 1 hectare (ha) - 2.380 feddans (fed) m3 - cubic meters Mm3 - million cubic meters Bm3 - billion cubic meters Principal Abbreviations and Acronyms Used ARC Agricultural Research Center BDAC Bank for Development and Agricultu:al Credit DRI Drainage Research Institute EARIS Egyptian American Rural Improvement Service EAUDRL Egyptian Authority for the Utilization and Development of Reclaimed Land ' EEA Electricity and Energy Authority FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GADD General Authority for Desert Development GARPAD General Authority for Rehabilitation Projects and Agricultural Development HAD High Aswan Dam HDSS High Dam Soil Survey ISD Irrigation Sector Department LMP Land Master Plan M&I Municipal and Industrial MALR Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation MED Mechanical and Electrical Department MPWWR Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources O&M Operation and Maintenance T&V Training and Visit TDS Total Disolved Salts WMP Water Master Plan WPG Water Planning Group VEW Village Extension Worker FOR OMCLAL USE ONLY ARABREPUbLIC OF EGYPT LAND RECLANATIORSUBSECTOR REVIEW Table of Contents Chapter Page No. PREFACE EXECUTIVE SUMKARY .... .. I. INTRODUCTION.1 A. Objectives and Scope . 1 B. Historical Background . 1 1. Modern History . 1 2. Post-;952 History . 2 C. Land Reclamation Institutions. 3 D. Literature Review. .. 4 II. RECENT RECLAMATIONEXPERIENCES--THE NEW LANDS . 4 A. Program Implementation . 4 1. Gross Reclamation and Net Agricultural Areas . 4 2. Planning and Coordination . 8 3. Further Development . 12 4. Role of Private Sector . 17 5. Settlement .... 18 B. Factors Contributing to Implementation Success . 19 1. Physical Facters . 19 2. Infrastructure/Institutions . 22 C. Economic Feasibility . 25 III. FUTURE PROGRAM ........... 30 A. Potential Supply and Demand . 30 1. Supply Factors .... 30 2. Demand for Land . 35 B. Investment Planning . .. 37 1. Priorities and Investment . 37 2. Project Composition ... 39 3. Environmental Issues . 40 C. Policy Issues .... 41 D. Recommendations .... 42 ANNEXES ANNEX 1: History of Land Reclamation and Development in the Post-Independence Period . 47 ANNEX 2: Land Reclamation Planning . 51 This document has a restricteddistribution and may be used by recipientsonly in the performance of their officialduties. Its contents may not otherwisebe disclosedwithout World Bank authorization. - 2 - ANNEX 3: SupplementalTables . 57 ANNEX 4: Economic Analysis. 67 ANNEX 5: LiteratureReview. 71 MAP IBRD 21614 - Reclaimed "Old-New"Lands Nile Delta and Environs MAP IBRD 21615 - Reclaimed "Old-bew"Lands Nile Valley and Environs MAP IBRD 21616 - AgriculturalReclaimable Land i This report was prepared by a World Bank mission consistingof Messrs. A. Nyberg (mission leader and economist),S. Barghouti (agriculturalist),and S. Rehman (irrigationengineer - consultant). The mission visited Egypt in March/April1989. LMAD Developingwater resourcesand reclaimingland have long been importantcomponents of Egypt'sagricultural strategy. Since the 1952 revolution,over LE 3.0 billion (nominal)have been expended on land reclamation,and some 1.6 million feddans of land have been reclaimedfor agriculturaluse. Land reclamationcontinues to receivethe largest share, about 401, of the sectoral investmentbudget. Agriculturalsuccess on reclaimedland has, however, been checkered,making continuedinvestment in land reclamationa controversial issue. Many of the early small projects,designed for smallholdersettlement, were highly successful. But agricultural output on the land reclaimedunder the large projects of the 1960s was inconsistent with the investments. Serious problems were encountered in both the engineering and agricultural facets of this program; agriculturalproduction was managedby public sector companies which were too inflexible to adjust to the vagaries of agricultural production. The 1980s marked a substantial change in land reclamationand land settlement policies, as the private sector became more involved in the reclamationphase and production-management was completely removed from the public sector. To expand the agricultural sector, Egypt must, to a large extent, rely upon expanding its land base. Productivity (yields and cropping intensity) is relatively high on the traditional agricultural lands of the Nile Valley and Delta, thereby limiting the possibility for growth in these areas. Furthermore, agricultural land loss is substantial. 'While 1.6 million feddans have been reclaimed for agriculture, about 1.0 million feddans have been lost to urbanization. Consequently, expanding the land basQ and improving the productivity on these newly reclaimed lands is perceived by the Government to be the major avenue for sectoral growth. In addition,rapid populationgrowth combinedwith a relativelysmall cultivatedarea has resulted in one of the world's smallestarable land:manratios. Adding to the land base is seen as a way to alleviatesome of the social pressuresof urbanization and high population density. A primary objectiveof this study was to evaluate past land reclamationexperiences and identifyfactors that contributedto agriculturally successful, and unsuccessful, land reclamation projects. The review's results would provide direction for future land reclamation activities. EXECUTIVESUNNARY 1. This study was undertakento gain a better knowledgeof the current land reclamationprogram, its implementationincluding intersectorallinkages, and its impect on agriculturalproduction. The review assessedprevious reclamation experiences to identifyfactors contributingto success (failure)which could be strengthened (discontinued)in future programs. An evaluationof individualprojects was not within the scope of this work. The fundamentalobjective was to improvethe efficiencyof future investmentsin agriculturalland reclamation. Introduction 2. Land reclamationin Egypt is of ancientorigin, which for several millenniafocused on the alluvialsoils of the Nile Valley and Delta. Since the 1952 revolutionefforts have increasinglyfocused on the reclamationof desert sands, as most of the remainingareas of undeveloped alluvialsoils are relativelysmall and/orhave particularlydifficult reclamationproblems. Some 912,000feddans (gross)were reclaimedbetween 1952 and 1978 (the old-newlands) and since then, 577,700 feddanshave been reclaimed(the new-new lands). Concurrrentlyagricultural land was been lost to urbanization;the net increasein cultivatedarea between 1950 and 1988 was only a million feddans.l/ 3. Land reclamationis a controversialissue, primarily because of the large investmentsin, and poor performanceof, parastatalfarms during the 1970s. Severalreasons combined to limit the successof reclamation efforts (1952-1978)on the old-newlands. These included:(i) the lack of planning and project implementationand inadequateknowledge of the soils; (ii) the need for a differentconstruction technology for sandy soils; (iii) the lack of a productiontechnology adapted to the peculiaritiesof the desert environment; (iv)weak post-implementationassistance in extension,training, credit and input supplies,etc.; and (v) budgetary constraintsfrom implementingtoo many projectsconcurrently. Thus, lands which were not fully reclaimed/developedwere cultivated;drainage and waterloggingproblems occurred; and,an inappropriatedeltaic soil technology was applied to the desert soils. 4. Concurrentwith these highly visible,but poor performing, investmentswere a number of successfulprojects, and project components, involvingsmallholder settlers. Smallholderson the new lands consistently achievedyields superiorto those obtainedon parastatalfarms, and, after brief learningperiods, they achievedyields near the national average. The realizationthat productivityis higher in the private sector underlies the currentpolicies regarding settlement and divestiture(by parastatal companies). 5. A number of the problemswhich adverselyimpacted on earlierland reclamationhave been resolved.The implementationof physical land 1/ Agriculturalcensus of 1950 and the GeneralSurvey Authorityreport of 1988. SJJJAM - ii- reclamationhas become a relativrelystraightforward, trouble-free technical exercise. However,obtaining optimum benefits from reclaimedland will largelydepend upon the provisionof agriculturalservices -- research, extension,training, credit and productionpackages, water management! allocation,etc. If these servicesare adequatelyaddressed, land reclamationcan be economicallyviable since the cost of reclaimingland in Egypt is among the lowest in