Wheat in the Middle of the Desert: Egypt Launches the Largest Superproject in History
19 May 15:26
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially launched a new agricultural project called the New Delta, which aims to transform desert land into fertile farmland for growing wheat and other crops. This project is the largest land reclamation effort in the country’s history.
This was reported by UkrAgroConsult, as cited by "Komersant Ukrainian".
The opening ceremony took place during the 2026 wheat harvest on new fields located west of the Nile Delta. According to government officials, the New Delta project covers an area of about 9,000 square kilometers, which will increase the total area of cultivated land in Egypt by approximately 15%.
The main crops to be grown will be wheat, corn, vegetables, as well as export crops such as olives and figs.
“This project opens new horizons for Egypt’s agricultural sector,” President Al-Sisi noted during the opening ceremony.
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Investments and Infrastructure
The total investment in the project has already reached 800 billion Egyptian pounds (over 15 billion U.S. dollars). These funds are allocated for land preparation, the construction of grain silos, industrial zones, and new roads that will connect desert areas with the Nile Valley and the country’s ports.
“We aim to create over two million jobs through the implementation of this project,” emphasized one government representative.
A key element of the New Delta is a large-scale water supply system, already being called an “artificial river.” Water from drainage canals in the western part of the Nile Delta flows to the El Hamam treatment plant on the Mediterranean coast. The plant treats up to 7.5 million cubic meters of water daily, which is then transported via a 170-kilometer canal through 13 pumping stations to desert areas.
Egyptian authorities view the project as a strategic response to threats to food security, which have intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
“The New Delta is our contribution to strengthening the country’s food security,” President Al-Sisi noted.
It should be recalled that earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs documented cases of Russia laundering stolen Ukrainian grain in Egyptian ports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Egypt will no longer accept grain exported by Russia from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.
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