Egypt inaugurates US$15B New Delta project to turn desert into farmland
Primary crops include wheat, corn, and sugar beet aimed at reducing Egypt‘s heavy reliance on imported staples, alongside export crops such as olives, figs, and vegetables.
EGYPT – Egypt has officially launched one of the most ambitious agricultural initiatives in its modern history, with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurating the New Delta project; a sweeping land reclamation effort aimed at transforming vast stretches of desert into productive farmland.
The project targets 2.2 million feddans (approximately 9,000 square kilometres) of desert in northwestern Egypt, expanding the country’s total cultivated agricultural land by roughly 15%.
At its centre is the El Hammam wastewater treatment plant, the world’s largest, capable of treating 7.5 million cubic metres of water per day, feeding a vast network of channels and pumping stations to irrigate the desert plateau.
Total investment in the project to date stands at approximately 800 billion Egyptian pounds (US$15.1 billion), which has been spent on preparing farmland and building grain silos, industrial areas, and new roads linking the reclaimed desert to the Nile Valley and ports.
The project extends across desert hinterlands, linking the governorates of Beheira, Giza, and Matrouh in northwestern Egypt.
Its infrastructure includes 19 major pumping stations to transport water against the natural geographical slope deep into the desert, as well as 150-kilometre channels to transfer treated agricultural water.
Egypt plans to focus on wheat, corn, and vegetables, as well as export-oriented crops such as olives and figs, with the goal of cutting the country’s large food import bill and easing pressure on foreign currency reserves.
Official figures reveal that current works include approximately 12,000 kilometres of roads, 19 major pumping stations, two treated-water transmission routes stretching 150 kilometres each, and electrical infrastructure with a generating capacity of roughly 2,000 megawatts.
The project is increasingly viewed not simply as a reclamation initiative, but as an integrated national corridor combining agriculture, infrastructure, industry, logistics, and future urban expansion across western Egypt.
The project is expected to create nearly 2 million jobs and resettle up to 2 million families in newly planned urban communities along the Dabaa Axis.
However, the project has not been without scrutiny.
Rights groups have raised concerns over the broader wave of megaprojects for concentrating economic control in military-run authorities, increasing opacity over land allocation, and diverting scarce public funds from social spending during an IMF-backed austerity programme.
Environmental experts have also questioned whether relying on energy-hungry pumping and treated drainage in a water-stressed country is sustainable.
The launch of the New Delta development project aligns with Egypt’s broader push for megaprojects, ranging from the New Administrative Capital to development initiatives in Sinai, reflecting a long-term strategy focused on desert reclamation and economic expansion.
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