The Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation participated in the 4th High-Level Ministerial Roundtable on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture held in New York. The discussion addressed the monetary and non-monetary benefits generated from the utilization of plant germ plasm under the auspices of the International Treaty. Additionally, participants discussed how they can support agricultural innovation for breeding climate-smart seeds, the impact of climate change on food crops through the Treaty’s systems and the value of the Treaty’s Benefit-Sharing fund and its projects for climate adaptation of food crops.

The Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation also met with officials from the World Bank Group where talks focused on the Ministry of Agriculture’s strategy through 2030. Topics of discussion varied from the World Bank Group’s experience in the agricultural sector to the Ministry of Agriculture’s needs in areas of land reclamation, agricultural marketing, agro industry, groundwater, cooperatives, contract farming and various other issues pertaining to updating laws and regulations, building capacity of agricultural institutions, agricultural and industrial integration, crop insurance as a risk tool against natural disasters and diseases and the restructuring of agricultural cooperatives. It was also announced that reclamation of land in Egypt will start with one million feddan in 11 locations and expand to four million feddan by 2030, with a focus on fishery industries.