Egypt’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement an initiative supporting small farmers’ projects.
The MoU’s signing was witnessed by Minister of Trade and Industry and MSMEDA CEO Nevine Gamea and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Elsayed Elkosayer.
The agreement will see the implementation of the “Hayat Karima” presidential initiative, and aims to develop the villages of the Egyptian countryside.
Gamea said that the new cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture comes as a continuation of the existing cooperation between the two sides to provide further support for agricultural sector projects.
It comes with the aim of establishing new projects and developing existing ones, which falls in line with the Egyptian state’s directions to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. It is also designed to meet the needs of the local market and increase exports.
The minister indicated that, according to the MoU, the focus will be on supporting agricultural projects of all kinds, especially in the border areas and Upper Egypt. The focus will be on supporting rural women, and helping them implement projects from home that generate adequate income to help them meet the needs of their families.
She added that an action plan will be developed in cooperation between the two sides to activate the MoU and implement it on the ground. This will ensure that the agreement reaches project owners operating in the agricultural sector, and help them benefit from the services of the agency.
Gamea said that those who can benefit from the agency’s various services include various agricultural, animal, poultry, and fish production projects or marketing projects and transport services. This is in addition to veterinarians, agricultural engineers, and those women who are their family’s breadwinner.
They will be able to do so by obtaining financing or specialised training courses or assistance in marketing their products, as they will benefit from the various facilities that are provided.
For his part, Elkosayer affirmed that this protocol is a translation of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s directives, and the integration between the legislative authority and the executive authority.
He noted that the MoU aims to support and develop micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) working in agricultural production and industrialisation across Egypt.
This is with a focus on priority areas in line with the state’s vision and orientations, especially: agricultural greenhouse projects; animal production; dairy production; poultry production; and fish production.
He said that according to the protocol, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation will determine the list of targeted agricultural projects and prepare feasibility studies of their own. This is in addition to identifying the appropriate villages to form natural productive clusters and applying a single village, one product model.
For his part, Mohamed Kamal Marai, Chairperson of the House of Representatives’ MSMEs Committee, praised the continuous coordination between the legislative authority and the executive authority.
He noted that this coordination aims to achieve the maximum possible benefit for project owners, and implement plans based on advanced visions that allow expansion in these projects, especially agricultural projects.
