Egypt discusses additional funds from WB for water rationalization projects

Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Atti discussed with a World Bank mission the possible ways of enhancing the WB financing in Egypt to speed up the process of rationalizing water consumption. The WB team visited Egypt on March 9-14. The Minister said that Egypt is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and therefore the state is exerting great efforts to meet the water challenges it faces, according to a statement by the ministry on Wednesday. Egypt is implementing a comprehensive development and modernization process for the water system through rehabilitating the irrigational canals and water facilities, besides reusing the treated agricultural water and using desalinated water. During his meeting with the WB team, the Minister discussed the efforts of the transition to modern irrigation systems that help reduce the use of fertilizers, energy, and labor, besides increasing and improving crop productivity. The visiting members praised the water management system in Egypt and the water reuse projects that have been and are currently being implemented.