In support of the strategic partnership between Egypt and the European Union in the agricultural sector, H.E. Dr. Jacqueline Azar, Governor of Beheira, received H.E. the EU Ambassador to Egypt and Dr. Tiberio Chiari, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Cairo, during an official visit to Beheira Governorate. The visit included the Damanhour Agricultural Service Station to follow up on the implementation of the EU-KAFI Programme, which aims to support and improve field crop production in Egypt.
The visit was held under the patronages of H.E. the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, with the participation of Prof. Dr. Yousry Abdelkawy El-Sayead, Director of the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AEnRI), representing Prof. Dr. Adel Abdel Ghaffar, President of the Agricultural Research Center (ARC), alongside Eng. Manal El-Sayed Ragab, Head of the Central Administration for Grants and Technical Cooperation at the Mechanization Sector, the Director of Beheira’s Agriculture Directorate, and several local leaders. Discussions focused on enhancing mechanization services, supporting farmers, and improving wheat productivity in Beheira and across the Nile Delta.
Key activities under the EU-KAFI Programme in Beheira include:
· Provision of tractors, harvesters, and modern planting machinery to expand mechanization services for 2,000–2,500 farmers, covering approximately 4,000 hectares of wheat cultivation.
· Training of 50 agricultural extensionists as Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for wheat, who will directly train at least 1,500 farmers.
· Dissemination of GAPs to more than 80,000 small and medium-scale wheat farmers across Beheira.
· Strengthening mechanization services with additional equipment, and upgrading seed processing units, laboratories, and demonstration fields to improve certified wheat seed production and transfer knowledge to farmers in other Delta governorates.
The EU-KAFI Programme, funded by the European Union and implemented by AICS in cooperation with the Agricultural Research Center, seeks to increase wheat productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, improve rural household incomes, and contribute to Egypt’s long-term food security while supporting the national wheat campaign.
