Introduction to “Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food Security in Egypt”
17
The Nile Delta is central for the production of field crops’ and the provision
of related agricultural employment in Egypt. However, there are present socioeconomic (e.g., population growth, land fragmentation and urbanization of agricultural land) and natural resources (e.g., water and soil) challenges that negatively
affect agricultural production, farmers’ livelihoods, and national food security.
The chapter explores the change in agriculture in the Nile Delta governorates, in
terms of field crops’ agricultural land area, production, net value, and employment,
stemming from socio-economic challenges, and those caused by the climate change
stimuli, here, temperature increase and sea-level rise by 2030.
Population growth and land fragmentation are expected to constrain farmers’
resilience to averse the negative impacts of climate change, while urbanization on
agricultural land would increase the effects of climate change on the local and national
levels contributing to the eruption of social tensions.
Though all Nile Delta governorates are suffering from the presence of high illiteracy and poverty rates, and the absence of strong associative structures, qualified
extension information and target group specific support, some governorates are to
be affected more by climate change than others.
While the chapter titled “Water Climate Food Nexus for Green Sustainability”
deals with Water-Climate-Food Security (WCF) Nexus approach as an important
tool to reduce future challenges due to climate hazards. Whatever applying this
approach need to devote more time and efforts for developing a coordination mechanism horizontally between different sectors and vertically between many stakeholders and authorities. Implementing for such mechanisms, it could be used the natural
resources with optimum manner.
Green Sustainable Development (GSD) is that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. At
the core of sustainable development is the need to consider “three pillars” together:
society, the economy, and the environment. No matter the context, the basic idea
remains the same—people, habitats, and economic systems are inter-related.
The interrelationship between many Sustainable Development Goals (17 SDGs)
supporting the nexus approach. Among the SDGs 17 goals; Achieving SDG 13 on
climate Action required a close nexus with other key SDGs on the social agenda;
especially goal 1 reducing poverty, SDG 2 for food security, SDG 3 improving health,
SDG5 Gender equity, SDG6 for water Access, SDG 10 for inequality and SDG 15
for land and Ecosystems, and finally SDG 17 for Partnerships.
The last chapter in this section is titled “Climate Impact on Egyptian Agriculture: An Efficiency Analysis Approach” is presented to assess the impact of average
maximum temperature, humidity and solar radiation through the technical efficient
governorates using panel frontier models. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an
approach that deals with restructuring agricultural systems to cope with climate
change through three main objectives, which are sustainability increasing productivity and incomes, mitigating GHG emissions, and adaptation and building resilience.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a special report
on 2018 on the impact of global warming of 1.5 °C and GHG emission pathways.
17
The Nile Delta is central for the production of field crops’ and the provision
of related agricultural employment in Egypt. However, there are present socioeconomic (e.g., population growth, land fragmentation and urbanization of agricultural land) and natural resources (e.g., water and soil) challenges that negatively
affect agricultural production, farmers’ livelihoods, and national food security.
The chapter explores the change in agriculture in the Nile Delta governorates, in
terms of field crops’ agricultural land area, production, net value, and employment,
stemming from socio-economic challenges, and those caused by the climate change
stimuli, here, temperature increase and sea-level rise by 2030.
Population growth and land fragmentation are expected to constrain farmers’
resilience to averse the negative impacts of climate change, while urbanization on
agricultural land would increase the effects of climate change on the local and national
levels contributing to the eruption of social tensions.
Though all Nile Delta governorates are suffering from the presence of high illiteracy and poverty rates, and the absence of strong associative structures, qualified
extension information and target group specific support, some governorates are to
be affected more by climate change than others.
While the chapter titled “Water Climate Food Nexus for Green Sustainability”
deals with Water-Climate-Food Security (WCF) Nexus approach as an important
tool to reduce future challenges due to climate hazards. Whatever applying this
approach need to devote more time and efforts for developing a coordination mechanism horizontally between different sectors and vertically between many stakeholders and authorities. Implementing for such mechanisms, it could be used the natural
resources with optimum manner.
Green Sustainable Development (GSD) is that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. At
the core of sustainable development is the need to consider “three pillars” together:
society, the economy, and the environment. No matter the context, the basic idea
remains the same—people, habitats, and economic systems are inter-related.
The interrelationship between many Sustainable Development Goals (17 SDGs)
supporting the nexus approach. Among the SDGs 17 goals; Achieving SDG 13 on
climate Action required a close nexus with other key SDGs on the social agenda;
especially goal 1 reducing poverty, SDG 2 for food security, SDG 3 improving health,
SDG5 Gender equity, SDG6 for water Access, SDG 10 for inequality and SDG 15
for land and Ecosystems, and finally SDG 17 for Partnerships.
The last chapter in this section is titled “Climate Impact on Egyptian Agriculture: An Efficiency Analysis Approach” is presented to assess the impact of average
maximum temperature, humidity and solar radiation through the technical efficient
governorates using panel frontier models. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an
approach that deals with restructuring agricultural systems to cope with climate
change through three main objectives, which are sustainability increasing productivity and incomes, mitigating GHG emissions, and adaptation and building resilience.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a special report
on 2018 on the impact of global warming of 1.5 °C and GHG emission pathways.