Egypt, one of the countries hardest hit by climate change, is seeking to mitigate the effects from rising temperatures on its food security and agriculture sector, which employs 21 percent of the national work force and contributes around 11.3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The development of the new rice variety is part of a larger plan for expanding the cultivation of climate-smart crops and legumes. In 2008, the government imposed a ban on rice exports to preserve stocks for the domestic market and save water. Egypt produced 4.5 million tonnes of rice in 2021/2022, down from 6 million tonnes in 2020/2021, according to the Grains Chamber at the Federation of Industries. In 2022, the cultivation of rice was allowed in nine provinces, five of which are in the Nile Delta.
The rising sea level threatens to destroy almost 15 percent of the farmland in the northern and eastern parts of the Nile Delta. The development of climate-resilient crops and legumes is part of Egypt’s adaptation measures in and out of the agricultural sector. The Egyptian government is launching projects to protect the coasts, expand the construction of seawater desalination plants and widen the scope of protected farming to cushion the effects of extreme weather conditions on agricultural produce – and to save water.