Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, met with Tiberio Chiari, Director of the Italian Cooperation Office in Cairo, and an accompanying delegation from the EU-funded Integrated Rural Development Programme in Egypt (EU-ZIRA3A) to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and expand the Productive Village initiative.
The delegation included Programme Director Nicola Battistella, Agriculture Sector Officer Islam El-Fadaly, and Technical Expert Raffaele Brettini.
The meeting was also attended by Mostafa El-Sayyad, Deputy Minister of Agriculture; Abdel Hamid El-Demerdash, Chairman of the Agricultural Export Council; and several senior ministry officials.
Discussions reviewed the development activities being implemented by the programme in its target governorates and explored ways to link them with the Productive Village initiative, with the aim of boosting local production and increasing smallholder farmers’ incomes.
Farouk stressed that expanding the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants represents a promising opportunity for agricultural development, given their high economic and export value.
He highlighted the importance of linking efforts to promote good agricultural practices in this sector with export companies to ensure the highest standards of quality and competitiveness.
The minister added that expanding the cultivation of these crops in targeted villages would help improve rural households’ living standards and increase farmers’ returns, while opening up new export opportunities and generating foreign currency revenues for the national economy through products in which Egypt enjoys a strong comparative advantage.
Farouk emphasised the need for close coordination among initiatives and international organisations working in agricultural development in Egypt to avoid duplication of activities and maximise their impact.
Participants also agreed to establish a joint working group to coordinate agricultural development efforts, with a particular focus on developing the medicinal and aromatic plants sector.
The group will work to increase productivity, improve product quality and facilitate access for Egyptian agricultural exports to international markets.
The EU-ZIRA3A Integrated Rural Development Programme in Egypt is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in three Upper Egyptian governorates: Beni Suef, Assiut and Sohag.
The programme aims to improve the livelihoods of more than 18,000 farmers, develop agricultural extension services and cooperatives, and support integrated governance across the Ministry of Agriculture’s various sectors.
