Irrigation policies in Egypt since the construction of the high Aswan dam

In no other country, perhaps, is the identification between water, irrigation, and agriculture as strong as in Egypt. Several phases of agrarian and technical change throughout its long history have taken Egypt to a situation where farmers grow between one to three crops a year on 3.78 million ha after lifting water from canals and drains, and sometimes from aquifers. This chapter first reviews the extraordinary cost of maintaining the delta 'irrigation machine', the history of irrigated agriculture expansion, and the evolution of public policies. It then examines key issues and challenges, including irrigation modernization, the search for water savings, the multiple experiences with participatory management at various scales, inter-sectoral integration, the water-food-energy nexus, the recent masterplan, and finally transboundary threats.