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Background information

Egypt´s economy experienced a transition from a centralized towards a more open economy. Due to poor living conditions and limited job opportunities however, President Mubarak was ousted by a revolution in 2011 and the following strained political and security situation led to a further contraction of the economy up until now. Especially the tourism and manufacturing sectors, among many others, are affected and employment levels rise continuously.

The country is geographically bisected by the Nile valley, which hosts the most productive regions. Thanks to soil fertility, the agricultural sector flourishes and employs nearly one-third of the total workforce contributing for almost 15% of the total GDP production, however almost half of the total domestic cereals consumption is imported. Main crops are cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits and vegetables.

The HDI (2014), with a score of 0.690, classified lower middle-income Egypt as a country displaying a medium level of human development. It is estimated that 1.7% of the total population lives in extreme poverty and according to the GHI (2015), hunger is only moderately severe which is caused by insufficient access to food rather than insufficient food availability. Moreover, increasing poverty and the diminishing purchasing power of the most vulnerable sections of the population pose a further threat to the overall level of food security.