Why the World’s Food Basket Became the Largest Grains’ Importer Country? “Comparative Statement on Main Crops’ Self-Sufficiency in Egypt and in China”

摘要

How a country as Egypt which is formerly known as the world’s food basket and the gift of the Nile River became the largest grains’ importer country of wheat? Why agricultural field in Egypt could not produce enough food for its people? And how does China succeeded to depend on itself to be able to feed its huge population? The current study used 4 crops (wheat, maize, rice and soybean), with three indexes (production, import, and domestic supply quantity) chosen to measure self-sufficiency (Ss). The study found out that, Egypt has a negative self-sufficiency for wheat, maize and soybean. Agricultural policies are the key of China’s successful development and at the same time are the main factors which affected agriculture in Egypt and make it fail to produce enough food. This study highly recommends policy makers in Egypt to make an improvement on agricultural policies for the purpose of promoting the agricultural self-sufficiency by supporting farmers’ to produce enough food.