Will Egypt's greenhouse project mark a leap in agricultural sector?
The Egyptian army is behind a project to build thousands of greenhouses nationwide, which raised criticism over the army’s role in the agricultural sector.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Aug. 17 inaugurated 1,300 greenhouse facilities established over an area of 10,000 feddans (10,378 acres) in Marsa Matrouh governorate in Egypt's Western Desert as part of the national project to build 100,000 greenhouses to meet the needs of 20 million of the country's 100 million citizens.
The project is being implemented by the National Company for Protected Crops, which is affiliated with the Armed Forces National Service Projects Organization; this has raised questions about the extent of military participation in agriculture.
The armed forces' involvement in agriculture started in 2015 with the launch of the 1.5 million Feddan Project, which aims to increase Egypt's farmland by 20%, from 8 million to 9.5 million feddans.
The greenhouse project is part of this mega project.
