Egypt, Italy partner in US$40M investment to boost wheat production

EGYPT – Egypt’s Agricultural Research Center (ARC) has entered into a strategic partnership with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) to boost national wheat production capacity through a US$40 million investment.

The agreement, signed on July 16, is part of the 2024 Knowledge and Action for Food Initiative (KAFI), a European Union–funded program aimed at enhancing grain systems and food security in Egypt.

The partnership focuses on modernizing Egypt’s wheat value chain through technical and institutional upgrades.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the initiative will support the supply of modern farming equipment, upgrade varietal selection laboratories, and establish certified seed production units. These components are designed to scale up the availability of improved wheat seeds and promote mechanization to enhance farm-level productivity.

In addition to infrastructure investments, the program will support nationwide farmer training initiatives and introduce advanced post-harvest management systems, including digital tracking and traceability tools, to reduce losses and strengthen the integrity of supply chains.

“This partnership is a key pillar of Egypt’s strategy for sustainable agriculture and food security,” the Ministry said, emphasizing the role of innovation and capacity development in overcoming current limitations.

Egypt’s wheat production has remained stagnant over the past decade, despite increasing consumption.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), ARC has been accelerating research to develop high-yield, early-maturing, and water-efficient wheat varieties, but structural challenges have limited expansion. These include water scarcity, fragmented farmland, rising production costs, and competition from other winter crops.

According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Egypt’s wheat cultivation area has been declining at an annual rate of 0.49% between 2013 and 2023s, from 1.41 million hectares down to 1.35 million hectares. Meanwhile, wheat output rose by just 0.97% per year on average, reaching 9.7 million tons in 2023, indicating a stagnation in production volumes.

To meet domestic demand, Egypt imported an average of 11.8 million tons of wheat between 2021 and 2023, while consumption hovered near 21 million tons, according to FAO estimates.

FAO indicates the 2025 wheat harvest began in May and is expected to be “above average,” supported by subsidized seeds and improved procurement price incentives, set at 2,200 EGP/ardeb in October 2024, leading to a 15 percent increase in local purchases, reaching 3.5 million t by mid-2025

The USDA forecasts for 2025/26 a modest domestic production increase to 9.3 million t, and an expansion in harvest area to 1.43 million ha under current procurement incentives. Consumption is expected to rise to 20.4 million t, with imports steady at 13 million tonnes.

However, according to the USDA, cultivation area still lags behind historical highs, around 1.45 million ha in 2022/23, while FAO projects that climate change may lower productivity of wheat and maize by up to 15 percent by 2050.

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