While many crops are sensitive to slight variations in air temperature, wind patterns, and annual rainfall — which can result in drastic underproduction — date palms have proven to be more resilient to climate change.
In Egypt, one of the top date producers and exporters in the world, farmers now see the crop as a safeguard for the country’s food security.
USAID is partnering with smallholder date farmers in Upper Egypt to increase the quality and quantity of this nutrient-rich and drought-tolerant fruit, and expand its local and global distribution.
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In Egypt and around the world, dates hold an honored place in millions of homes. Every year since the 7th century, the holy month of Ramadan brings Muslim families together at the end of each day to give thanks to God and break their fast by eating an odd number of dates as per tradition. Dates offer valuable nutrients — potassium, magnesium, and B vitamins — to replenish their energy after their daily fast.
Looking back even further, date palms and their sweet fruits are one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world. In Egypt, they’ve been harvested and enjoyed for over 8,000 years. Multiple Egyptian archeological sites reveal date palms adorning ancient temples, tombs, and homes. In Pharaonic times, palm leaves represented long life, and the fruit provided both enjoyment and nutrition to all ages and classes of people.
In 2020, Egypt produced more than 21 percent of global date production. And according to farmers and experts around the country, the market has ample room to grow.
There is high potential for increasing date quality and quantity to satisfy local consumption and international export purposes,” said Mohamed Abo El Wafa, the senior agribusiness program manager at USAID’s Mission in Egypt.
Not only does the horticulture industry have the capacity to expand in Egypt, it needs to expand. Last year, 193 million people around the world were considered food insecure due to a myriad of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, widespread supply chain disruptions, and climate change.
As access to safe and plentiful food becomes increasingly threatened, climate change adaptation efforts become more essential to global food security.
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USAID provides Egyptian farmers with training to make their agricultural production more efficient, which increases the quality and quantity of their dates.
One of the techniques USAID introduced costs nearly nothing for farmers to implement, but results in tremendous gain.
With traditional harvesting techniques, date farmers cut date bunches from the palms and throw them down onto a tarp. However, the long drop bruises many of the dates, while others fly off the stalk and become lost.
The new technique adds a single piece of equipment: a rope. Farmers tie the freshly cut stalk to the rope and gently lower the dates to the tarp. This method protects the dates, resulting in double to triple the harvest.
Batta’a, a farmer and small agriculture business owner in Aswan, says after receiving training from USAID, she was able to increase productivity by 60 percent.
I now know how to deal with the fruit, and I feel connected to the plants — like we understand each other. And it results in a higher yield,” she said.
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In addition to training, USAID links smallholder farmers to private and public entities that provide connections throughout the date value chain and expand the distribution and export reach of small farms.
Recently, USAID, through the Feed the Future Egypt Rural Agribusiness Strengthening project, linked the Egyptian Food Bank with three date producer organizations in Aswan. Through this linkage, these date producers will supply 500 tonnes of dates to the Egyptian Food Bank at a competitive price to help extend the reach of their product and increase their household incomes.
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Boosting the agricultural sector in Egypt builds resilience in a time when many crops are severely threatened by climate change — putting millions of lives at risk of food insecurity.
Over the last four years, through the Feed the Future Egypt Rural Agribusiness Strengthening project, USAID has supported 70,000 Egyptian farmers, with crops across 13 value chains, to adopt climate-smart farming practices. These improved practices are estimated to increase crop yield by up to 50%.
With the training and increased market connections provided by USAID, Egypt has the capacity to expand its global reach while continuing to offer Egyptian families access to affordable, nutrient-rich food — bettering the lives of all Egyptians.
This blog was originally published on USAID's Medium Page
Ana Laffoon
Ana Laffoon is a Communications Specialist for the Office of Economic Growth at USAID’s Mission in Egypt. She currently lives in Cairo with her husband and five young children.
