28 juil. 2023

Nexus Regional Dialogues Programme MENA // Working towards a Nexus Farming Loan Product for climate smart farming in Egypt!

The Nexus Farm Initiatives takes a major step closer to making Nexus farming a reality for farmers in Egypt.

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On June 21^st, 2023, GEBAL hosted a half-day workshop on financing products for nexus farming at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek, Cairo. The event was organized in the context of the Nexus Farm Initiative, which is financed by the Nexus Regional Dialogues Programme – MENA, which in turn is implemented by GIZ on behalf of the BMZ and EU. It was attended by a variety of partners – including representatives from different banks – the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, National Bank of Egypt, as well as The Export Development Bank of Egypt, representatives from the European Union, a representative of USAID, two farmers from Egypt’s Western Desert, the private-and research sector.

As requested by different Egyptian banks during workshops conducted earlier on in the project as a pre-requisite for a nexus farming loan product, GEBAL had commissioned an independent feasibility study of a) GEBAL’s two nexus farming greenhouse models and b) an open farm model also designed by GEBAL that integrates solar pumping with crop farming, composting, and poultry farming. The two feasibility studies were conducted and combined in an integrated report by SME Castle.

At the workshops, SME Castle presented the preliminary results of the independent feasibility study GEBAL has commissioned in preparation of the design of a designated nexus farming financing product for Egypt. SME’s evaluation is based on an extensive market study, a legal feasibility assessment, and a financial feasibility study. The report concludes that GEBAL’s nexus farming greenhouses are feasible under all conditions, with particularly lucrative results found in situations and locations where farmers are able to tap higher end markets, such as large supermarket chains, hotels, or restaurants.

All participants confirmed general interest in more readily available nexus farming financing products. The workshop participants emphasized that such products could represent key elements in helping to facilitate a larger-scale switch to more sustainable, climate-smart, nexus-oriented growing practices in Egypt. It was agreed that a nexus farming loan product would represent a product tailored to farming initiatives that a) ensure maximum water use efficiency, b) are based on renewable energy, and c) enable enhanced food production, in integrated, circular ways. Through the integration of these three elements, they could be set aside from other, existing loan products on the Egyptian market.

For more information on the workshop please consult the workshop report and for the Nexus Farm Initiative more generally, we invite you to view our story.

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