Fawzi Karajeh ICARDA on behalf of the study team

1. Irrigated Benchmark-Egypt First Coordination Meeting 13-16 February 2011 Fawzi Karajeh ICARDA on behalf of the study team

2. Egypt-WLI Partners ARC AUC NWRC ICARDA UoAsh UoZ UoC UoB

3. Egypt-WLI Objective The goal of Egypt-WLI is to improve the livelihoods of households and communities in the Nile Delta Sub-sites by increasing economic, social and educational opportunities through addressing the key priority issues in Water/Land management

4. Outputs The Egypt-WLI initiative is expected to produce the following direct outputs: • Integrated water and land-use strategies for policy-making, tools for sustainable development. • Enhanced knowledge, skills and qualifications for key stakeholders. • Improved rural livelihoods through the adoption land/water management practices and livelihood strategies.

5. Means of Verification (Outcomes) The Egypt-WLI initiative is expected to achieve the following outcomes: • Income increased in rural households/villages. • New livelihoods adapted/diversified production systems adopted. • Access to clean, high quality water improved by adoption of better water management systems. • Natural resources managed better at community and institutional levels. • Land use intensified, decreasing pressure to move agriculture to new or fragile lands. • Status of land degradation and water quality monitored. • Improved capacity of extension and research institutions.

6. The Nile Delta sub-sites The Nile Delta sub-sites represent the full spectrum of issues to be found in the irrigated agro-ecosystems in Egypt. Egypt-WLI is gender responsive to all sites to add value and increase income on some of the smallest per capita agricultural areas in the world.

7. The target of each sub-site To improve on-farm water management by controlling water tables and decrease salinity build-up Improvement of irrigation and drainage systems Old land Improvement of drainage and crop systems management To control salinity, decrease salinity build-up and set the adoptive crop system Salt affected land To improve soil fertility and water-holding capacity; control water table and decrease soil crust formation and salinity build-up Development of irrigation systems and soil management New land This pilot strategy developed at the sub-sites will then be available for scaling-up.

8. El-Bustan South El-Husania El-Boheya Old land New land Salt-affected land

9. Priority Issues Water management Soil management Cropping systems • Sustainable irrigation systems • Treated wastewater and bio-solids reuse • Sustainable use of agricultural drainage • Water productivity under flood irrigation • Management of salt-affected soils, salinity control • Sustainable use of agricultural drainage • Improved fertilizer productivity • Sustainable cropping systems • Improving cropping pattern • Protected agriculture for cash crops Cross-cutting Issues • Community empowerment • Capacity development • Decision-support • Gender (Female participation) • Dissemination & technology transfer

10. El-Boheya benchmark site Sharkia Governorate Old land

11. Bio-Physical Characterization Location/Population Sharkia Governorate is located at lower Egypt region (LER) which is extended from north of Cairo to the Mediterranean sea El – Boheya site has the same characteristics of Sharkia – it’s the largest district in the governorate.

12. Land Holding Bio-Physical Characterization At, El – Boheya, the total area estimated at 121,000 fed which owned by 62,451 holders.

13. Bio-Physical Characterization Water Sources Water sources are mainly from El -Boheya canal in addition to some groundwater. The estimated total water requirement for crops cultivated in 2006/2007 crop season reached to 496,847 thousand m3 (about 18.75% of the total water requirement devoted to LER). At El – Boheya, about 10% of lands are suffering-tail water

14. Labor Force Bio-Physical Characterization • Labor are mostly skilled • The average wage/day work ranged between L.E. 30 to L.E. 50; Depending on the type of agriculture operation and also according to the type of crops cultivated.

15. Education Status: Bio-Physical Characterization • There are three types of schools (primary preparatory and secondary). • Primary schools estimated at 94 schools which represent about 59% of the total number of schools in the district (160), where preparatory schools represent about 30% and secondary schools represent about 11% of that total. • There are about 89 institutes belongs to El Azhar at which primary institutes represent about 35%, preparatory institutes represents about 34% and secondary institutes represents about 32% of that total. • There are some other organizations which count to 65 distributed as 25 for health which represents 39%, 25 for veterinary which represents 23% and 25 social organizations which represent about 39%

16. II- Agro-Ecosystem Characterization: Crop production, crop pattern and agricultural credit • The main cultivated crops are Berseem, Wheat, Sugar beet, Flax, vegetables, Maize, Cotton, and Rice as field crops, in addition to Mango, Citrus, Grapes and date palm as permanent crops. • Cotton, maize and Rice are representing about 60% of the total area cultivated in addition to some ornamental and medicinal plants. • The annual cropped area is about 141,931 feddans. • At El –Boheya, the bank of development and agri. credit branch throughout the credit and reform cooperatives is the main source of credit and loans for most of land holders. Loans provided by the branch are mainly for agriculture inputs (57%) and the rest are for other different agricultural activities (livestock)

17. Crop Pattern of El – Boheya Site 2007/2008

18. Livestock Characterization Livestock Number by Types, DiarbNegeme District, 2009 • Poultry is mainly chicken. These chicken are raised at different types of houses according to the purpose of production (for eggs as or for meat).the total number of houses devoted to poultry are estimated at 727 farms at which some are stopped (83 house) and the rest are still in production (644). • Equipment: the equipments at El – Boheya, the total number of tractors estimated to 1,438 and irrigation pumps estimated to 13,356.

19. Farm Income: • The highest gross margin was for Wheat which estimated to L.E 3,246/fed and the lowest was for Rice which estimated to L.E 1,599/fed. • Net income per crop per feddan is decreased for Wheat, Maize, Rice and be negative for Cotton. • Income of livestock production was so difficult to be estimated at El Boheya benchmark site.

20. Income of Some Field Crops at El – Boheya Benchmark Site/ Average of some Study Cases 2008/2009 Source: collected andcomputed from 10 crop budgets at the site.

21. Weaknesses and Opportunities There are several constraints and Weaknesses that need to be addressed in order to achieve sustainable water and land - use management (improving rural livelihoods) at the Benchmark site including: I- Water Resources and Drainage • Irrigation water serious shortage occurs in July and August. • Lack of drainage facilities at which tail drainage is not covering all farmers land. • Use of drainage water for irrigation to over come water shortages at some part of the district take place for farmers have their land near or naturally influenced by lateral flow.

22. Weaknesses and Opportunities II- Livestock Production • Lack of concentration feed (expensive, if available) and green fodders prices are very expensive. • Lack of veterinary services. • Lack of processing facilities. • Price of the head (Cows, Baffloles) is very expensive- severe fluctuation.

23. Weaknesses and Opportunities III- Loans: • Short term loans are difficult, but available. • Medium- and long-term are difficult and not readily available.

24. ……to improve the livelihoods of households and communities ….

25. South El-Husainia plain Salt-affected land

26. El-Bustan New Land Area

27. Weaknesses and Opportunities Problem/Constraints at Benchmark Site: • Lack of adequate technical options for efficient water use • Water management guidelines are needed under conditions of water scarcity to produce more with less water. • Guidelines for farmer to optimize water productivity and maximize income are needed. • No clear agenda of land use as climate, markets, trade, etc., change to ensure sustainable agricultural production and livelihoods?

28. Weaknesses and Opportunities Problem/Constraints at Benchmark Site: • Lack of proven diversified crop patterns • Lack of focused capacity development to farmers to manage water more efficiently • Lack of adequate policies to encourage efficient water use in irrigated areas • No arrangement to deal with proper marginal water use and management

29. Weaknesses and Opportunities Technologies provided by irrigation improvement project are lack of some good implementation. Marketing problems: • Lack of current marketing channels at both purchasing inputs and selling products. • Marketing services provided by the wholesalers to farmers are limited to selling and off-loading. They do very little grading, sorting, or special promotion. There is no effort to assist farmers to improve the sole price through post-harvest operation that would improve the quality and reduce lasses.

30. On-farm water management activities (benefits from existing benchmark site) (Phase-I) Linkage between Water Benchmark project and WLI • Wide furrow irrigation • Raised-bed plantingsystems • Deficit irrigation • Laser land leveling • Long-furrow and borders • Dry planting of berseem • Irrigation scheduling practices • Water saving techniques in rice fields

31. Capacity Development in for Egypt-WLI Build the training modules and structure the research for post-graduate degrees using the project outputs 3 PhDs and 5 MS degrees will be allocated every year when bilateral grants are available Short courses for improve qualifications, knowledge and skills of the stakeholders Opportunities for post-doctoral study The use of e-learning and national, regional and US university partnerships in conjunction with ICARDA as a main regional training center.

32. This is for nowThank you

33. South El-Husainia plainWeakness and opportunities

34. Bio-physical data The Study Areas • South El-Husainia is located at the east Delta (Sharqia Governorate). Its area about 57 thousand fedd. Representing about 28% of the total reclaimed area (204.35 thousand fedd.). • Its cultivated area is about 38 thousand fedd. representing about 31% of the total cultivated area.

35. Agro-ecosystem data Soil nature: • In general, soil is considered light clay, including heavy clay and bad drainage areas where the salt concentration (EC) ranges from 4 to 64 dS/m. • The soil pH ranged from 7: 8 making it a moderate and the capacity exchange cations (CEC) ranged from 30.6 to 67.4 mlequivalent/100g soil. Water resources (irrigation sources): • Al-Salam Canal It is considered the main source of irrigation.

36. Farm Size Farm size at south El-Husainia plain, 2009

37. Cropping pattern at South El Husania, 2008/2009

38. Socio-economic data Population: • Number of the settled families in South Husainia plain is amounted to 3782 families. • Percent of settlement reaches 107.5% of the targeted settlement families (3529 families). • Number of population in this region is 19667 individuals.

39. Reasons for the High Settlement • The high settlement at South Husainia plain depends on the fertility of soil which achieved the highest rate among the regions of east delta. • East Delta Agricultural Services Project has executed infrastructure services especially in the drinking water and sanitation. • It has established an agricultural research station at El-Rowad in addition to many developmental services that have helped to complete the institutional structure. • South Husainia Plain is near from El-Sharqia, which is a popular market for selling the agricultural and animal products, it leads to an increase net farm income.

40. Agricultural indicators Cultivated Area: • Due to implementing the fields of agricultural infrastructure and services, the cultivated area which was15.4 thousand feddans. (56.1.%) of the targeted area in 2003. • It became 37.9 thousand feddans representing about 137% of the target area. (27.6 thousand feddans) in 2009

41. Agricultural indicators(cont.,) Crop Yield: • The yield of feddans has increased of major crops such as wheat, sugar beet, rice and cotton from 1.02, 15.72, 2.1, 0.45 ton/ fed, respectively in 99/2000 to be 2.2, 18.5, 3.88, 1.1 ton/fed (2008/2009). The change rate is 116%, 18%, 85%, 144% respectively . • The yield of major crops has increased due to the adoption of the modern agricultural technology like laser leveling, deep plowing, agricultural gypsum and machines harvesting.

42. Agricultural indicators(cont.,) Total Revenue for Cultivated Crops in South El Husainia (LE/fed) (2008/09)

43. Weaknesses and opportunities for improving rural livelihoods The problem facing farmers were classified according to the opinions of men and women as follows: • Problems from Women • Absence of specialized health care of women and family in particular. • Lack of female rural guides to handle the awareness process and to show the role of women. • Lack of markets places and daily goods specially the bread which is often gotten through shopping nearby towns, villages or the central markets. • Weakness of women's role to integrate into the public action. • Lack of small projects directed to women and consequently her weak productive role within the family. problems and constraints at the project area:

44. Weaknesses and opportunities for improving rural livelihoods Problems from men • Non-availability of irrigation water at the end of canals, especially the remote villages from the main canal such as El-Noras, El-Etehad and El-Amany. • High price of production inputs especially the fertilizers. • Lack of government funding sources at the project area. • Irrigation canals and drainage at some villages are not cleaned. • Lack of veterinary care for some regions and the consequent high cost of livestock and poultry. • Increase in prices of agricultural labor, which adds another financial burden on farmers.

45. Weaknesses and opportunities for improving rural livelihoods Common problems • Lack of adequate housing for the current households and the re-construction of housing to accommodate the family are considered another financial burden. • Large distance between houses and agricultural land is a major problem • Lack of transportation means especially at the evening. • Non-completion of educational service (after the preparatory phase like the secondary schools of commerce,, and public) adds another burden on the family. • Lack of entertainment and culture places leads to educational and psychological problems.

46. Weaknesses and opportunities for improving rural livelihoods There are positive opinions of the activities executed by the project as follows: Opinions of women: • The project leads to an improvement in the main infrastructure like drinking water and sanitation. • It increases the women awareness of small projects like poultry, rabbits and sewing --- etc. • It increases woman participation in the social aspects like her role in the board of WUAs, WUUs and CDAs. • It helps women to increase their developmental and environmental awareness through the training programs established by the project. • It activates the women role in the productive process in the family.

47. Weaknesses and opportunities for improving rural livelihoods Opinions for men: • Through the infrastructure adopted by the project, it leads to the improvement of the fed. yield and the farm income. • It solved the problem of drainage and the improvement in soil properties and its yields at some areas. • According to the project's big role in the artificial insemination and veterinary services, it leads to the increase of the livestock numbers. • It has had a big role to recognize the farmers of the modern agricultural technology like laser leveling, deep plowing, and using high productivity seeds through demonstration fields. • The projects' activities have helped to increase the settlement rate. • The project has helped to solve the bottlenecks problems of drainage, irrigation, drinking water and sewage.

48. El-Bustan (New Land Area)

49. Bio – Physical Characterization • Location • The Intelaq Moderate in El-Bustan area is selected and visited as the representative site of the new land. Intelaq Moderate consists of 14 villages with a total area of 38,356 feddans distributed on different beneficiaries. • The selected site; Intlaq Moderate is located in Nubaria, at Behaira Governoratein North Delta. • Site Characteristics • It has the general characteristics of new lands; such as: • Sandy ones with sand fraction corresponding to nearly 90% of the soil mechanical separates. • No fixed cropping pattern. • Shortage in irrigation water, especially in summer season.

50. Bio – Physical Characterization Climate: • The weather is very cold in Jan. and cold in Dec., Feb. and March. It is moderate in Sept., Oct., Nov., Feb., Mar., Apr. and May, while it is hot in June, July, and Aug. • The rainfall is very high in Jan. (150 – 200mm) and Feb. but it is law in Dec. and March. • Farm size: Land Distribution in Intlaq Moderate in El-Bostan Area *: Governmental agents, Leaders, Social categories, Investors,