Speaker
Description
Wheat is a crucial agricultural product of the Nile River Delta, yet Egypt remains one of the world's largest wheat importers. In response to recent geopolitical and health crises, Egyptian authorities have prioritized increasing domestic wheat production to enhance self-sufficiency. However, this effort coincides with rapid urban expansion, which threatens arable land in the Nile Delta. To address the dual challenges of land scarcity and staple crop shortages, the government has launched large-scale infrastructural projects aimed at reclaiming desert areas for cultivation. Central to this initiative is the creation of a "second Delta," featuring the world’s largest artificial river and wastewater facility, ultimately reclaiming 9,300 km² of land for agriculture. While such large-scale land reclamation projects are not new in deltaic regions, they raise critical socio-environmental concerns.
This paper adopts an agroecological framework for delta urbanism to examine the spatial dynamics of wheat cultivation in the Nile Delta, focusing on the interplay between productive landscapes, water infrastructure, and transportation networks. Utilizing a layered mapping approach and a reinterpretation of Malthusian and Boserupian food production theories, this study seeks to explore alternative pathways and linkages between food-producing territories and socio-environmental challenges.
References
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Barnes, Jessica. Cultivating the Nile: The Everyday Politics of Water in Egypt. New Ecologies for the Twenty-First Century. Durham ; London: Duke University Press, 2014.
———. Staple Security: Bread and Wheat in Egypt. Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.
Barnes, Jessica. Cultivating the Nile: The Everyday Politics of Water in Egypt. New Ecologies for the Twenty-First Century. Durham ; London: Duke University Press, 2014.
———. Staple Security: Bread and Wheat in Egypt. Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.
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| Keywords | food systems, deltaic areas, agroecological urbanism, wheat, Nile River delta |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
