Egypt faces food imports as population increases, water grows scarce

In the northwest corner of the Nile Delta, Ibrahim Sharaf Al-Dein fires up his diesel-powered pump next to a murky canal only to watch it spew out a yellowish froth.

For the past 15 years, antiquated irrigation systems and a government conservation drive have kept many farmers from nutrient-rich Nile waters, forcing them to tap sewage-filled canals despite their proximity to the world’s longest river.

“This water ruins our pumps, it breaks our machines, it’s bad for our production,” Sharaf Al-Dein, 50, said of the canal.

But even Egypt wrestles with dwindling water from its only major source, the Nile, it pushes farmers to grow more to supply the country’s costly subsidized food program. The two goals, farmers and experts say, are at odds with one another.

And efforts to make the most of precious farmland have been hampered by decades of urban sprawl, which has accelerated since 2011 when President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster led to a security vacuum.