Hapi_ President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi participated today in the session titled "Food and Water Security… Today's Challenges and Future Guarantees," as part of the third day of the Egypt 2026 Forum. The session was attended by Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, along with Dr. Sherif Farouk, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Dr. Hani Sewilam, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Dr. Bahaa El-Ghannam, Head of Egypt's Future Agency for Sustainable Development, MP Ehab Mansour, Undersecretary of the Manpower Committee in the House of Representatives, MP Abdel Moneim Imam, Head of the Al-Adl Party and Member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Ahmed Ramadan, Lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture, Fayoum University, and Eid Morsal, Head of the General Trade Union for Workers in Agriculture, Irrigation, Fishing, and Land Reclamation.
Land Reclamation Since 2014 is an Unprecedented Achievement
The Official Spokesperson for the Presidency stated that the session addressed the efforts implemented by the Egyptian state since 2014 to enhance the availability of food commodities and achieve food security, including increasing, developing, and reclaiming agricultural land areas. This is in addition to reviewing state efforts to ensure that subsidies reach those who deserve them, strengthening the supply subsidy system, ensuring the stability of the strategic reserve of basic commodities, and increasing the number of silos and their storage capacity.
Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawi, the Official Spokesperson for the Presidency, noted that the President delivered an intervention during the session in which he emphasized that the cash subsidy system the state wishes to implement is fairer, more transparent, and better governed. He explained that citizens' data has been compiled to be included in the system, ensuring complete transparency and governance.
Regarding the supply and agriculture sectors, the President pointed out the importance of striving to maximize livestock production due to its numerous benefits, emphasizing the importance of governors, officials, mayors, and citizens working toward the goal of replacing old breeds with more productive ones to maximize livestock production.
The President added that Egypt's reserve of strategic commodities is sufficient for a period of six months, taking into account the disruptions witnessed in supply chains and the geopolitical conditions in the region.
Regarding water consumption, the President raised the issue of water consumption patterns in Siwa, including the drilling of wells, stressing the importance of state intervention to ensure the governance of this situation.
Concerning Egyptian lakes, the President noted that over past decades they experienced encroachments, neglect, and violations that reflected on a decline in their fish production volume. He reviewed the state's efforts in confronting encroachments and violations on the lakes, which resulted in restoring Bardawil, Manzala, and Lake Nasser to their natural conditions.
The President emphasized that the state of slackness within state apparatuses and their inability to control conditions necessitated enlisting another entity to face chronic and accumulated challenges, particularly regarding the lakes. He explained that the goal was to restore the lakes to their natural state, which prompted the state to assign the responsibility of supervising them to Egypt's Future Agency for Sustainable Development.
We Aim to Restore Fish Lake Production to Natural Rates
The President expressed his hope that fish production from these lakes would return to its natural rates, especially in light of significant population growth, pointing to the violations the lakes were subjected to, including the discharge of sewage and agricultural drainage water into some of them. He stressed that the efforts exerted by the state will benefit citizens, particularly in Port Said, Damietta, and Dakahlia.
The President noted that Egypt underwent experiments in agricultural land reclamation over past decades, but they did not achieve the desired results, affirming that what has been achieved in this field since 2014 represents an unprecedented achievement.
He explained that the state is open to the private sector purchasing areas of reclaimed land, provided they are large areas to avoid the fragmentation of agricultural land, stressing that the fragmentation of agricultural holdings has not been in Egypt's interest.
Egypt is Ready to Reclaim 10 Million Feddans Provided Water Resources are Available
The President pointed to the efforts exerted since 2014 in the field of land reclamation, affirming the state's readiness to reclaim ten million feddans if the necessary water resources are available, and explaining that the goal is to achieve tangible results.
New Delta Project is a National Achievement Requiring Available Water Resources
He added that this goal was behind the insistence on implementing the New Delta Project, highlighting the scale of efforts and works witnessed by this giant national project, including the establishment of giant pumping stations, and emphasizing the important role played by Egypt's Future Agency for Sustainable Development in implementing the project.
