AGRICULTURE
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- Agriculture's share of Egypt's nominal GDP accounted for 16% in 2000/2001 - The country's largest employer, contributing to 28% of the labor force and 20% of commodity exports - Productivity gains since mid 1980's have increased grain and vegetable production and increased the size of cultivated and reclaimed land - Even though Egypt is a large agriculture producer, they import large amounts of food; Egypt is the single largest overseas market for US wheat (5 million metric tons annually) - Agricultural production rose at an average rate of 3.6% in the 1990's, which rose significantly from 2.6% in 1980's
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Agricultural Crops: - Egypt is the world's most important producer of long-staple cotton - Other important crops are rice, tomatoes, and wheat - Egypt hopes that the signing of EU Partnership Agreement and development of Toshka agricultural scheme will lead to a large increase in fruit and vegetable imports - The Toshka scheme is a South Valley Development project that aims to irrigate 500,000 arcs of arable arid soil with water from Lake Nasser |
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Fisheries: - For the year 2000, there was 649,000 tons of fish caught - Of that, 2,900 tons were exported - The government is aiming to increase production by encouraging the use of inland lakes and waterways for intense aquaculture |
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Livestock: - The livestock for 2000 totaled 6.2 million head - Of that, 3.2 million were buffalo and 3 million were cattle - Primary use of livestock is manufacturing dairy products; meat is secondary in importance - Australia is Egypt's major supplier of live cattle |
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