Lessons I Learned in Times of Crisis ... Thanks Goes a Long Way

War is war... fear or courage is everywhere ... the only difference is in the presence of the state and the messages of invulnerability it sends to its citizens.

I was in Stuttgart, Germany, on the first day of the Russian operation in Ukraine, and I saw how the price of fuel rose by about 40% without any introductions. I also saw the fear of the Germans and long queues in front of the stores to stockpile basic commodities, nevertheless prices remained unchanged, even though Germany is on the line of fire in this crisis. The reason of the stability in the German markets is that the European country has self-sufficiency in most food commodities.

When I returned to my homeland "Egypt", and with the approach of the holy month of Ramadan, I did not found all the commodities available in the markets. I only saw fears and rumors that led to an increase in prices.

Despite the government’s keenness and success in overcoming the pandemic repercussions for about two years, and despite the global recession ... Egyptians were witnessing the openings of new food commodities projects, that actually started production and were concluded in light of social distancing and closures.

By then, we were asking ourselves: Why do the armed forces establish such projects? and why does the private sector participate in such food projects?. These projects included fisheries, poultry production, and land reclamation. We forgot that food security is one of the most essential safety factors, which appeared at the beginning of the war and appears in any global crisis.

Over the past 7 years, and since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took office, more than 320 agricultural development projects have been concluded at a cost of more than EGP 40 billion, including ones to cultivate 2 million feddans as well as the national project for the development of lakes and fisheries in the areas of Ghalyoun and East Al-Tariqa and Diba.

Moreover, the rural development project to reclaim and cultivate 1.5 million feddans, to cultivate high-quality and productive crops to provide healthy and safe food for citizens, and improve the quality of life for more than 60 million citizens in the countryside, in addition to preventing encroachment on agricultural land.

All these projects took place before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which proved that the greatest damage was inflicted on the countries that import their day-to-day commodities. The countries, however, that achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, crops, vegetables and fruits are able to overcome crises and defy the difficulties and crises of global trade and cut off the road in front of the traffickers.

At the end, it is enough to say that crises showed us the enemy from the friend.