Soils as Driver and Victim of Climate Change in Egypt
141
cover @10% of the Delta area. The north-west coast is exposed to extreme fluctuation in rainfall events. Waves of heavy rainfall events and flooding frequently sweep
the eastern side of Nile basin and northern Sinai. Egypt has suffered @120 of flood
incidents since the year 1947, which left about 4000 dead and its frequency increased
in Sinai in the last decade.
6 Recommendation
The following recommendations could be drawn up from the discussion in this
chapter:
• Reduce conventional land management and adopt sustainable soil and water management by reducing deep tillage and increase organic and bio-fertilization on
account of chemical fertilizers which encourage soil carbon sequestration.
• Expanding the cultivation of dry rice varieties and switching of long-duration traditional cultivars to early-maturing short-duration rice cultivars without reducing
the area of this strategic rice crop.
• Stop the burning of agricultural waste to reduce emissions that increase global
warming and adopt recycling strategies.
• Protection and development of wetlands which could be instrumental in formulating efficient strategies related to carbon sequestration and reduction of GHG in
coast of Mediterranean north Egypt.
• Encourage and stimulate projects to convert crop residues into organic fertilizer,
compost or biochar and return it to the soil as a sustainable conservation stratigy.
• Building farmers’ awareness of modern methods and measures to manage soil and
water in the presence of extreme climatic changes.
• Adopting Climate smart farming systems and provide farmers with appropriate
guidance and on time forecasts to deal with severe weather waves. Expanding the
use of smart systems in land and water management and digital farming systems
that help protect the soil and provide water, fertilizers and pesticides to mitigate
climate change.
• Reduce the use of heavy agricultural machinery and replace it with small light
machines suitable for the small and fragmented agricultural holdings, which
reduces soil degradation on the one hand and reduce carbon emissions from high
fossil fuels consumption.
• Adopting future projects to protect the Nile Delta from sea level rise guided by the
Dutch expertise in this regard and to protect about 1.5 million acres of submersion
and salinity and the consequent serious decline in the food basket in Egypt.
• Expansion of water harvesting projects from rainfall and floods by setting up the
necessary engineering constructions in the most vulnerable areas in Sinai and
eastern Nile Valley to minimize the economic and human losses.
141
cover @10% of the Delta area. The north-west coast is exposed to extreme fluctuation in rainfall events. Waves of heavy rainfall events and flooding frequently sweep
the eastern side of Nile basin and northern Sinai. Egypt has suffered @120 of flood
incidents since the year 1947, which left about 4000 dead and its frequency increased
in Sinai in the last decade.
6 Recommendation
The following recommendations could be drawn up from the discussion in this
chapter:
• Reduce conventional land management and adopt sustainable soil and water management by reducing deep tillage and increase organic and bio-fertilization on
account of chemical fertilizers which encourage soil carbon sequestration.
• Expanding the cultivation of dry rice varieties and switching of long-duration traditional cultivars to early-maturing short-duration rice cultivars without reducing
the area of this strategic rice crop.
• Stop the burning of agricultural waste to reduce emissions that increase global
warming and adopt recycling strategies.
• Protection and development of wetlands which could be instrumental in formulating efficient strategies related to carbon sequestration and reduction of GHG in
coast of Mediterranean north Egypt.
• Encourage and stimulate projects to convert crop residues into organic fertilizer,
compost or biochar and return it to the soil as a sustainable conservation stratigy.
• Building farmers’ awareness of modern methods and measures to manage soil and
water in the presence of extreme climatic changes.
• Adopting Climate smart farming systems and provide farmers with appropriate
guidance and on time forecasts to deal with severe weather waves. Expanding the
use of smart systems in land and water management and digital farming systems
that help protect the soil and provide water, fertilizers and pesticides to mitigate
climate change.
• Reduce the use of heavy agricultural machinery and replace it with small light
machines suitable for the small and fragmented agricultural holdings, which
reduces soil degradation on the one hand and reduce carbon emissions from high
fossil fuels consumption.
• Adopting future projects to protect the Nile Delta from sea level rise guided by the
Dutch expertise in this regard and to protect about 1.5 million acres of submersion
and salinity and the consequent serious decline in the food basket in Egypt.
• Expansion of water harvesting projects from rainfall and floods by setting up the
necessary engineering constructions in the most vulnerable areas in Sinai and
eastern Nile Valley to minimize the economic and human losses.