Egypt - National Drainage Programme

The National Drainage Program is a key part of the government’s Water Resources Development Strategy which seeks to optimize the efficiency of water resource use as well as improve the efficiency of the drainage systems. It should permit to optimize the benefits of irrigation by draining excess irrigation water from agricultural land. The implementation of the programme is expected to result in higher crop yields in the target areas, higher farm incomes, and increased food security and poverty reduction in general. Water logging and the soil salinity can reduce crop productivity by 20-30%. The programme includes three components, namely: (i) construction and rehabilitation of subsurface and surface drainage; (ii) strengthening of the Egyptian Public Authority for Drainage Projects (EPADP) capacity for operation and maintenance; and (iii) project management and institutional development assistance.