High water consumption

Farmers

• Egypt has approved some laws that prevent the cultivation of high water-consumption crops such as rice and sugarcane. Now, the farmer is obliged to commit to cultivating a specific area that was specified by the state for the cultivation of these crops.
• In 2021, mango farmers in Ismailia lost over 80% of their crops as unusually high temperatures and water shortages devastated the area.

The country

Egypt is currently using more water than its internal renewable resources supply and is expected to use even more water in the near future. According to the Egyptian statistics agency CAPMAS, the country’s per capita water resources have fallen from 2,526 m3/year in 1947 to less than 700 m3/year in 2013, which is well below the 1,000 m3/year threshold deemed necessary by the UN to provide enough water for drinking, agriculture and nutrition (Masr, 2014). This trend is expected to continue, leading to a possible figure of less than 350 m3/year by 2050