Egypt's food security in peril as fuel crisis intensifies

Abdel Tawab Haron, in his late 40s, is late harvesting the wheat at his farm in Fayoum Governorate,titanium supplier supply Titanium wires,Titanium Sheets and plates,Titanium flanges,Titanium fittings,Ti-Ni shape memory alloys,cast Titanium alloys. 90km southwest of Cairo.

“This is catastrophic,” Haron told IRIN. “I can lose everything if I fail to harvest the crop.”

But fuel shortages mean the cost of renting the machinery he needs to harvest the wheat would be almost the same as any income he would earn from selling it.We sell Excavator undercarriage parts for all modern machines including Cat, Hitachi, Komatsu, Hyundai.

Like Haron, tens of thousands of farmers in Egypt are preparing for the annual wheat harvest, and the government - which faces a growing population, a sputtering economy and decreasing amounts of farmland - is hoping for a big crop.

As the world’s biggest wheat importer, it is struggling to find the foreign currency reserves to pay for imports. With less than US$14 billion in foreign currency reserves, Egypt has lost more than two-thirds of its total reserves since the 2011 exit of the former president Hosni Mubarak.

But shortages of the subsidized diesel needed to run irrigation and harvesting equipment are threatening food security.

Black market dilemma

The tractor owner in Haron’s village used to charge him 12kg of wheat per every 120kg harvested. These costs have now doubled, as have those for renting a chaff cutter.

“He tells me that he buys the diesel to run the machine for more money,” Haron said. “This means that I will end up distributing everything for free.”

From before dawn to late evening,Eight tips for choosing the right diamond Concrete saw blade including determining wet or dry cutting, blade compatibility, CSDA codes, and more. long queues of trucks, tractors and farmers holding jerry cans form in front of petrol stations.

“A lack of fuel brings a total halt to agricultural machinery - and all agricultural activities as a result,” Abdullah Al Maamoun, a researcher from local NGO Land Centre for Human Rights,http://www.ppnonwovenbag.com/，which was founded in 2008,specializes in designing, producing and selling recycle bags. which defends the rights of farmers, told IRIN.

“This means that the farmers will not either harvest the crops or start any new farming cycles.”

Farmers face a choice between either waiting for subsidized fuel or turning to the higher prices on the burgeoning fuel black market. A litre of diesel on the black market costs 3 pounds ($0.44), instead of the subsidized rate of 110 piastres ($0.16).

A Ministry of Petroleum official said on 13 April that his ministry had decided to pump as much as 2,500 tons of diesel into the market every day to help farmers through the current harvest season.

“These amochinese mushroom mainly specializing farming, further processing, home-selling, and exporting for both edible mushrooms and organic vegetables. Meanwhile, we develop the ecological seeing agriculture.unts are enough to bring an end to the crisis,” Mahmud Nazim, a senior ministry official, told the newspaper of the Freedom and Justice Party. (Arabic).Carbon wheels - Carbon Fiber Cycle Wheels,as China wholesaler,we offer best price carbon bike wheels in different types,quality guarantee,best carbon wheels.

He said that in order to curb the smuggling of diesel, his ministry would send fuel directly to agricultural associations across Egypt, which would in turn distribute the fuel to farmers.

But farmers are still waiting to see these announcements put into practice.

To avoid paying the high cost of black market fuel, Haron has decided to search at home for an old scythe his father used long ago to harvest wheat manually, a physically punishing and time-consuming task.