Rural Development Strategy for Upper Egypt

The situation in rural areas and in particular in Rural Upper Egypt needs specific attention. The purpose of this work is to assist the Government of Egypt and stakeholders (civil society, private sector) in defining interventions to promote the kind of broad-based economic and human development that would reach the rural poor and improve rural welfare, with specific attention to Upper Egypt. Upper Egypt includes the following governorates: Fayoum, Beni Suef, El Menia, Assiut, Sohag, Quena, Luxor, Aswan.

The focus is primarily on the interventions required for: (i) sustainable pro-poor growth; and (ii) rural people's participation in decision-making processes and local level planning and resource allocation. The Rural Development Strategy (RDS) would complement the Poverty Reduction Strategy which focuses on the measures that target the poor. The RDS will determine interventions that would support broad-based rural growth, thus improve the living standards of rural people and alleviate constraints or promote opportunities for economic activities in the rural space.

NRI is working with the World Bank and the Government of Egypt in the preparation of the new RDS.