Egypt advances rural development and waste management projects

Egypt's Minister of Local Development and Environment, Manal Awad, is overseeing several developmental and environmental initiatives. A key project, supported by the European Union and implemented in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is targeting 120 villages within the presidential ‘Decent Life’ initiative in the Assiut, Sohag, and Qena governorates.

The project aims to integrate with existing presidential interventions to support environmentally friendly economic activities, enhance agricultural value-added processes, and create sustainable job opportunities. Recent efforts included a specialized training program for 90 agricultural instructors on integrated agricultural waste management, focusing on topics such as compost production, biochar, and biogas.

Other recent ministerial activities include the completion of detailed urban planning for Minya and Youssef El-Siddiq, and the final handover of a 60-million-pound safe sanitary landfill in El Dabaa, Matrouh. Additionally, the Ministry is coordinating with the FAO to strengthen cooperation regarding climate action, adaptation, and resilience in Egypt.