Rationale
Egypt is facing a high population growth rate, which demands for an increase in agricultural production efficiency. This is at present more urgent with high food prices and demands altogether for a lesser dependency on food imports. Consequently, agricultural waste and field residues will only increase in the future. At present, these waste streams are not economically re-used and will create even larger problems for air and surface water pollution and having therefore a negative effect on people and planet.

There is a general awareness in Egypt that field burning of agricultural residues leads to unacceptable air quality. This is partly brought about by recent reports on what is locally known as “the Black Cloud” in the media. Probably the most prominent example of this is rice straw, of which nearly 3 million tons per year is burned in the field, creating both an economic waste and an environmental problem. An integrated approach is needed in order to make optimal efficient use of agricultural produce and byproducts. In view of the actual raising of food prices, high population growth rate, and higher energy prices in Egypt, efficiency and increasing of the whole production chain process becomes more important. In this context, the beneficial re-use of agricultural waste will be economically profitable for both the farmer and the industry, environmentally sound by better using the biomass (bio-based economy), and will add to human health as large scale rice straw burning is reduced leading to less air pollution in Cairo and other areas in the Nile Delta.

In this workshop, alternative utilisation options for rice straw as well as other relevant agro-residues available in Egypt will be analysed and prioritised for further development and implementation. The goal of the workshop is to present and discuss past and current initiatives on rice straw utilisation in Egypt and elsewhere, and share results achieved so far with a wider public of stakeholders from public sector, industry and academia. The workshop will lead to greater exchange of knowledge and ideas, and its results could be used as a basis for concrete follow-up research or implementation projects.
 

The workshop is funded by the Dutch government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and organised by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cairo and Wageningen University and Research Center.