West Beheira Settlement Project

This project rehabilitated a state farm and privatized it by distributing small parcels of the land to some 1,700 small-scale farmers, providing technology transfer and credit services to the farming community. Project results were remarkable. For example, maize yields were three to four times higher than in adjacent areas and among the highest in Egypt. Household income increased fivefold. The project demonstrated, above all, the success of private smallholder ownership in stimulating agricultural productivity and profitability. It was one of the major forces behind Egypt’s privatization of 500,000 feddan (210,000 ha) of public agricultural production companies in favour of smallholders. When the project was completed, the people who benefited agreed, on a voluntary basis, to pay a levy on each feddan of land in order to finance a small unit to manage the irrigation and drainage systems.

Source: IFAD