PROJECT SUMMARY
To ensure that wheat supplies flow in and pests and diseases stay out, the Egyptian Government and private sector are addressing inefficiencies along Egypt’s grain value chains with the support of the EBRD, FAO and public-private dialogues.
CONTEXT
In Egypt, there is an almost insatiable appetite for Baladi, a classic flatbread made from wheat flour. Eaten as part of almost every meal, Baladi’s production is subsidized by the Egyptian Government as part of its national food security strategy – the local equivalent of USD 1 can buy 358 loaves. As the flatbreads have a high wheat content, ensuring a sustainable supply of wheat both now and in the future is critical to meet an estimated 15 percent increase in consumption by 2025, mainly driven by population growth. While Egypt produces around 50 percent of its wheat, the potential to expand domestic production is limited due to land and water scarcity meaning that it is highly dependent on imports which amount to 12.5 million tonnes per year.
This government-led effort, supported by the EBRD and FAO, focused on improving grain import value chain efficiency and strengthening public-private dialogues to drive policy changes to reduce contamination risks in Egypt’s grain supply chain. Unwanted guests like ergot fungus, quarantine pests or invasive weeds can arrive with shipments from overseas and can infect local grain supplies, helped by the low investment in infrastructure capacity over recent years to manage and implement phytosanitary measures, for example, by grain sampling, testing and fumigation.
Activities
EBRD and FAO undertook the following to facilitate public-private sector dialogues in the Egyptian grain sector:
Carry out an exhaustive review of Egypt’s wheat supply chain to identify weaknesses and offer solutions to improve efficiency;
Facilitate public-private policy dialogues, acting as neutral brokers to guide policy discussions on sector efficiency, for example, identifying options to streamline plant quarantine regulations without compromising safety; and
Deliver best practice training to build capacity within government agencies and the private sector on grain inspection procedures as per international standards, for example, best techniques for sampling, testing and fumigating grains and addressing food safety concerns such as excess levels of pesticides and mycotoxins.
Achievements
- Improved inspection procedures and a higher tolerance policy on shipments for phytosanitary issues to align with international standards and increase acceptance rates, which will reduce risks to private investors and trading partners and bring savings of up to USD 430 million over 10 years.
- Plans to introduce e-phytosanitary certificates into the Egyptian grain trade to ease the administrative burden of issuing roughly 200,000 paper phytosanitary certificates each year to process grain cargo.
- 1000+ inspectors trained on grain sampling, quality testing, fumigation and other services, including participants from the private sector who will have an enhanced role in carrying out shipment inspections for private cereal purchases.
- Implementation of an integrated information system to control the management, transportation and trading of wheat has already reduced the country’s wheat import bill by 13 percent.
- Public and private investment in enhanced storage capacityat the ports to move wheat from ships to port silos where it can be tested before release to reduce contamination risks and speed up offloading times.
- Updated tendering processes for wheat purchases including updated payment arrangements, changes in protein requirements and better alignment with international prices bringing an estimated saving of USD 15 million annually.
