546
D. M. Gouda
A recent example of farmers’ experience in Mahmoudia district in Beheira governorate shows that farmers
15 have perceived the change in water availability, especially
during the summer season. This made them irrigate from private and public drains,
and cultivate crops requiring less irrigation water as well as shifting their cultivation
and harvesting dates. Moreover, a survey of 900 households in 20 governorates in
Egypt revealed that 85% of the households noticed an increase in temperature (heat
waves) in the summer, as well as an increase in the winter temperature. Accordingly,
farmers resorted to water-use efficient crop varieties and/or early maturing ones, as
well as to using wells and drainage water for irrigation [59].
Nevertheless, most farmers’ experience is related to the cultivation of traditional
crops (cereals, sugar cane, clover and cotton). Therefore, the average cropping area
cultivated with traditional crops in the Nile Delta governorates is about 70%. The
cultivation of traditional crops is an indication of subsistence farming, as farmers
mainly produce to eat, not for the market as villages have become central consumers
of agricultural products [60].
In Egypt, the elderly population possesses the farming knowledge and experience,
while the younger population is busy in education or absent due to migration [61,
62]. In the Nile Delta governorates, farmers older than 45 years, accounted only for
about 14% of the rural population in 2017 [11]. Rapid population growth has caused
that about 60% of the rural population in the Nile Delta governorates was less than
25 years old and about 90% were less than 45 years old in 2017. This means that
by 2030 the youngest of the elderly population would be more than 57 years old,
while those who were less than 45 years old in 2017 would be between 25 and
57 years old. The latter age categories are expected to be the ones to take responsibility
for agricultural production by 2030 and, thus, they would require support through
access to information and to new technologies to adapt to climate change [62].
They would need to have access to information on various adaptation measures,
in terms of costs and benefits of such measures, and their impact on crops as well
as on their livelihoods. A study conducted in the Nile Delta found that farmers are
willing to adapt to climate change if they have access to reliable information, e.g. on
heat-tolerant crop varieties, use of pesticides and fertilizers, and efficient water use
that are expected to substantially reduce the adverse effects of climatic impacts on
farmers’ livelihoods [63].
The public agricultural extension sector could play an important role in providing
climate change related information as it is supposed to be the link between research
and farmers [17]. For the public extension sector to carry out its tasks, it relies
on research findings, e.g. of alternative crops testing that is suitable for different
agro-climatic conditions [64].
Nevertheless, agricultural research in Egypt is currently experiencing budget and
staffing weaknesses that affect its performance, and in turn that of the extension sector.
15 A pilot area of the GIZ Programme “The Adaptation to Climate Change in the Water Sector in
the MENA Region Programme” (ACCWaM) a project I was personally involved in, in 2013.
D. M. Gouda
A recent example of farmers’ experience in Mahmoudia district in Beheira governorate shows that farmers
15 have perceived the change in water availability, especially
during the summer season. This made them irrigate from private and public drains,
and cultivate crops requiring less irrigation water as well as shifting their cultivation
and harvesting dates. Moreover, a survey of 900 households in 20 governorates in
Egypt revealed that 85% of the households noticed an increase in temperature (heat
waves) in the summer, as well as an increase in the winter temperature. Accordingly,
farmers resorted to water-use efficient crop varieties and/or early maturing ones, as
well as to using wells and drainage water for irrigation [59].
Nevertheless, most farmers’ experience is related to the cultivation of traditional
crops (cereals, sugar cane, clover and cotton). Therefore, the average cropping area
cultivated with traditional crops in the Nile Delta governorates is about 70%. The
cultivation of traditional crops is an indication of subsistence farming, as farmers
mainly produce to eat, not for the market as villages have become central consumers
of agricultural products [60].
In Egypt, the elderly population possesses the farming knowledge and experience,
while the younger population is busy in education or absent due to migration [61,
62]. In the Nile Delta governorates, farmers older than 45 years, accounted only for
about 14% of the rural population in 2017 [11]. Rapid population growth has caused
that about 60% of the rural population in the Nile Delta governorates was less than
25 years old and about 90% were less than 45 years old in 2017. This means that
by 2030 the youngest of the elderly population would be more than 57 years old,
while those who were less than 45 years old in 2017 would be between 25 and
57 years old. The latter age categories are expected to be the ones to take responsibility
for agricultural production by 2030 and, thus, they would require support through
access to information and to new technologies to adapt to climate change [62].
They would need to have access to information on various adaptation measures,
in terms of costs and benefits of such measures, and their impact on crops as well
as on their livelihoods. A study conducted in the Nile Delta found that farmers are
willing to adapt to climate change if they have access to reliable information, e.g. on
heat-tolerant crop varieties, use of pesticides and fertilizers, and efficient water use
that are expected to substantially reduce the adverse effects of climatic impacts on
farmers’ livelihoods [63].
The public agricultural extension sector could play an important role in providing
climate change related information as it is supposed to be the link between research
and farmers [17]. For the public extension sector to carry out its tasks, it relies
on research findings, e.g. of alternative crops testing that is suitable for different
agro-climatic conditions [64].
Nevertheless, agricultural research in Egypt is currently experiencing budget and
staffing weaknesses that affect its performance, and in turn that of the extension sector.
15 A pilot area of the GIZ Programme “The Adaptation to Climate Change in the Water Sector in
the MENA Region Programme” (ACCWaM) a project I was personally involved in, in 2013.