Rural Development and Agriculture Policies in Egypt: Historical Roots and Effects on Farmers

Abstract

Al-Nour’s paper examines the historical roots of rural development and agricultural policies in Egypt, and their effects on Egyptian farmers. In an attempt to gain an understanding of Egypt’s rural and agricultural development model, the author examines the theoretical structure and practical applications of agricultural and rural development programs followed in Egypt since the beginning of the 1950s. The paper provides an in-depth exploration of the structure and history of successive agricultural and rural policies, along with an ethnographic study of their effects on the local level. It also provides case studies of Egyptian farmers so as to shed light on the strategies used by social actors towards these polices. Al-Nour’s research method combines socio-analytical tools on the macro and micro levels as well as an analysis of the political and social economy of development. Field work was centered on a group of villages in the Egyptian south (in Assyut, Qena, Sohag, and Minya governorates), with particular focus on the village of Nazlet Salman in Assyut. Al-Nour concludes that the general trend in Egypt has switched from rural development and agricultural development being linked to them being separated, giving rise to an agriculture without farmers and a rural development without agriculture, with all its inherent implications for the Egyptian farmer.