Building Prosperity

A satellite image of Egypt shows vast areas of desert with a green lifeline running through its center. For centuries, the Egyptian people resided by the Nile and tied their lives to it in every aspect. More than 40 years ago, the Aswan High Dam was completed, thereby controlling the annual flood to improve farming and produce hydroelectric power. The project became one of the main pillars behind Egypt’s industrialization and economic development.

And now it seems Egypt is in dire need of a new project or, better yet, a new vision that will propel similar growth. The time for simply reaping the Nile’s wealth by the riverbanks is over. For Egypt to prosper, its population needs to move beyond its centers of commerce and better use and develop its natural resources.

Geographically, Egypt can be divided into four regions, the Nile Valley and Delta, the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula. Over 99% of the population resides in the Nile Valley and Delta, which accounts for only 5.5% of Egypt’s total land area. The continued growth of the population on that same land area means precious arable land is quickly giving way to massive urbanization.

Urban sprawl combined with poor land management means Egypt is losing 14,150 square meters of arable land per hour, according to a United Nations report issued last June. This rate is catastrophic, and if it is not addressed soon it may turn Egypt’s breadbasket into large swaths of red brick apartment buildings, eventually causing the green lifeline that runs through the heart of the country to disappear.

To prevent this, Egypt must adopt a massive de-urbanization program in the Nile Valley and Delta to preserve fertile land and continue feeding its increasing population. The government must also investigate its programs to cultivate desert land — it makes little sense to turn the deserts green using limited aquifers, while allowing parts of the delta at risk of desertification.