Egypt’s El Sisi wants government to procure more locally grown wheat – The National

Egypt’s El Sisi wants government to procure more locally grown wheat – The National

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Monday said he would like to see the government procure up to 10 million tonnes of locally grown wheat, nearly twice the declared target for this year’s harvest.

The world’s largest wheat importer, Egypt said in March it wanted local growers to sell six million tonnes of their wheat crop to the government as part of a stick-and-carrot scheme that rewards farmers who meet their quota and punishes those who do not with up to five years in prison.

The scheme is designed to make up for higher wheat prices on world markets and the disruption of supplies from warring Russia and Ukraine, who between them met more than half of Egypt’s annual wheat imports — more than 10 million tonnes last year.