This paper presents an innovative approach to prioritizing development policy research in Egypt with the specific objective of informing the research agenda of the Egypt Strategy Support Program of the International Food Policy Research Institute. The key steps in this process were: 1) a review of relevant priority setting methods and existing government strategies, 2) pre-selection of research themes, 3) selection of national and international experts, 4) design and conduct priority setting workshop; and 5) priority matrix construction and paper writing.

This paper presents an innovative approach to prioritizing development policy research in Sudan with the specific objective of informing the research agenda of the Sudan Strategy Support Program (Sudan SSP) of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The key steps in this process were: A review of relevant priority setting methods and existing government strategies, Pre-selection of research themes, Selection of national and international experts, Design and conduct priority setting workshop; and Priority matrix construction and paper writing. The paper suggests key research priorities for Sudan, which are both highly relevant to Sudan’s current and future development policy agenda and consistent with IFPRI’s own comparative advantage and strategy. It identifies research areas and topics under five main themes, namely: 1. Agricultural production, 2. Markets and trade, 3. Livelihoods and nutrition, 4. Development strategy and investment planning, and 5. Increasing resilience of farming under growing climate challenges. Tackling the priority research tasks identified in this paper, for these five themes, is expected to help reduce poverty and improve food and nutrition security in Sudan. However, strengthening the links between policy research and decision-making will be crucial to ensure that evidence-based solutions are relevant and have a positive impact on people’s lives.

An analysis of the UN's development targets up until 2030, and the case for prioritizing the most powerful investment areas.

This paper goes beyond the “business” case for agricultural value chain development and presents an economy-wide framework to make the “development” case. We show that there are several key transmission channels that determine the economy-wide impacts of promoting various value chains, including forward and backward economic linkages, price responses, and net employment effects. These impacts all matter for household incomes, poverty, and dietary diversity. Results for Egypt show that agricultural value chain development generates economy-wide growth as well as growth in the agri-food system, but the impacts on employment suggest that agricultural growth can create new (and better) jobs in and beyond the agri-food system, but not necessarily more jobs. The results also show that productivity-driven agricultural growth in all crops is pro-poor and improves nutrition. However, potential adverse effects of livestock-led growth show that growth acceleration in single sectors can be negative, highlighting the importance of a systems analysis or, in our case, an economy-wide analysis. It is clear that no single sub-sector is best at achieving all the development outcomes examined. Moreover, the ranking of value chains by their development outcomes differs across sub-national regions. As such, results from this paper may provide useful decision support for the government and its development partners to select value chains depending on their priority development outcomes.

The agriculture sector is key for economic and social development, but the sector’s potential has not received enough attention from policy makers and stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Political transitions, instability, and the resulting refugee crisis have shifted focus away from other pressing development challenges, including slow progress in economic diversification, high unemployment, and persistent high food insecurity and rural poverty. Despite its small contribution to GDP, agriculture is strategic for sustainable development in the MENA countries. Agriculture, for example, is central to achieve food and water security in a region characterized as one of the most food insecure and water scarce in the world. The sector’s role in employment is also central, given the region’s high structural unemployment. However, it will not be possible for MENA countries to develop agriculture without a pathway to structural economic transformation. The region has already started the process of transformation but longstanding challenges remain. This report aims to examine the drivers, constraints, and social implications of agricultural development in MENA and to explore possible cornerstones for new and sustainable development strategies in the context of economic transformation. More specifically, the report provides answers to the following questions: • What development strategies and policies did governments in MENA put in place over the past three decades and how did they affect the performance of agriculture? • How did the structural characteristics of the MENA countries affect agricultural development and the economic transformation process in the region? • What did we learn from the past performance of agriculture? What should be the central elements guiding future agricultural policies? • What are elements of a new and sustainable development strategy in MENA countries? • What is the role of agriculture and agro-industries for development in MENA?

This note presents the results of an evaluation of public investment options for Egypt’s agri-food system. Nine agriculture-related public investments are considered, including targeting public spending to expand farm production, e.g., irrigation improvements, input subsidies, agricultural research, and extension, and to promote downstream agro-processing and marketing. The outcome indicators considered are economic (GDP) growth, incomes of the poor, job creation, and dietary diversity. IFPRI’s Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) economywide model is used for the evaluation because it captures linkages between sectors, households, and rural-urban economies and measures changes within and beyond the agri-food system. RIAPA is linked to the Agricultural Investment and Data Analysis (AIDA) module that tracks investment impacts and costs over time. The ranked results of the public investment options considered, summarized in the table here, can help prioritize agri-food system investments for post-COVID-19 recovery.

Highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, heat waves in Egypt are increasingly severe and frequent, raising the already high evaporation rate, accelerating crop transpiration, increasing soil aridity and elevating water requirements for both human and agricultural consumption in a country where water is imported. The forecasted spike in rainfall variability will affect flow of the Nile River, increasing both drought and high-flow years. While Egypt must produce more food for its rapidly growing population and confront high levels of child malnutrition, agricultural performance is slowing due to inefficient use of land, labour, water and energy along with environmental degradation and limited access to new technology, all of which favour increased incidence of pests and disease. Having tested climate smart agriculture (CSA) in four of Egypt’s most significant value chains – dairy, dates, maize and wheat – the authors demonstrate that CSA practices, technologies and policies will increase agricultural productivity and incomes, strengthen resilience to climate change and improve mitigation of its effects. These important, evidence-based findings have bearing well beyond Egypt’s borders. This publication is part of the Country Investment Highlights series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.