My association with agriculture is a lifetime relationship which began on my family’s Pennsylvania farm, an academic career in the University of California and a practical education through my association with the agricultural and environmental issues of California. 

Egypt became a part of my life about 1962 when Egyptian graduate students began coming to the University of California.  In 1976 I went to Egypt for the first time with a team of academic faculty to work together on the “new crops” project.   During the next decade I interacted through numerous studies on the economy and quality of life with the Bostid committee of the US National Academy of Science. 

From 1977 to 1986, the University of California through the Davis campus worked with USAID on a project on the improvement of the horticultural crops in Egypt.   From 1985 to 1993, I participated in the Consortium for International Development which managed the USAID funded National Agricultural Research Project (NARP).

In January of 1992, I accepted the position of Senior Research Administrative Advisor of the NARP.  This project spent over $200 million in an effort to increase food production and to improve Egypt’s economic competitiveness through an improved agricultural research and extension system.  Improvement was accomplished through the renovation of facilities, technical and academic training, equipping laboratories and conducting research.  My principal responsibility was to assist in the communication between the Ministry of Agriculture of Egypt and the United States Agency for International Development. The great pleasure of this time was working with Dr. Adel El-Beltagy, Chairman of the Board of the ARC and Director General of NARP.  He is a life long friend and an inspiration in writing this text.

During the last decade I have continued to interact with Egyptian colleagues and programs through various Mediterranean programs, the Rosenberg water foundation and ICARDA.

During these years there have been many changes in the economy, structure, scientific basis and international standing of agriculture in Egypt.  They serve as examples of what can be done in developing an agricultural economy with severely limited land, arid conditions, and cooperation with the support of western countries including Canada, Germany, France and the United States.  Many things worked and yielded improvement and many did not.  It is however a story about the largest Arab country and its interactions with the western world in an attempt to improve its agricultural efficiency and hence the quality of life of its people.  The events of this period provide a background for other developing countries and for donor countries and should be a foundation for the continued development of Egypt and the other MENA countries.

There are many key people who are a part of the story, but there is one who lived, worked and contributed continuously.  He is Yousef Wali.    After obtaining a doctorate at the University of Arizona in, he became a professor at Ayn Shams University and built a career as an expert in horticulture.  In the early 1970’s he became a consultant to the Ministry of Agriculture.  In 1982 he became the Minister of Agriculture where he served until his retirement in 2004.    Throughout his career, Dr. Wali worked to improve food production, increase Egypt’s independence through a sustainable food supply, and develop a scientific base for agriculture.  The motto he often quoted, “He who does not own his food, does not own his freedom” underlines his basic efforts and beliefs.

His diligent work with every component of science, agriculture and business throughout the world helped put Egypt in a better economic and food supply position.  This meant cooperation with numerous aid agencies of the USA, Canada, Germany, France, and the European Union and with Israel, and the Arab League.  It meant debating the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  It meant convincing most of his own colleagues, the Parliament and the other Ministers of the Egyptian Government of policy changes.  He knew what needed to be done and he had a good sense of what could be done.  The result was a constant debate and compromise to bring Egypt to its present economic and social position.

This is a report of the many changes and how they were accomplished.  It is an analysis of the present economic and population challenges facing Egypt and it suggests future directions essential to Egypt’s future.  It concludes that Agriculture is essential to Egypt’s well being.

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