By Jana al-Masry | 2024-05-13

CAIRO -- The Egyptian government has made a concerted effort to secure a steady supply of wheat amid Russia's war on Ukraine, which has impacted global grain supplies, by taking steps at home and abroad to ensure its availability.

Thanks to these efforts, Egypt has been able to secure adequate wheat and flour, ensuring that bread is available, experts told Al-Fassel.

There has been no shortage of wheat in recent months, they said, even though two wheat shipments destined for Egypt were held up at Russian ports last month on flimsy pretexts.

"The Egyptian authorities consider securing wheat to be a matter of national security," said Ragab Abdul Hafeez of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce's Agricultural Crops Department.

"Bread is still subsidized by the government," he told Al-Fassel, pointing out that "any shortfall in the supply of wheat in the markets would lead to dire consequences" for Egypt.

After the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Egypt took steps to prevent a wheat shortage, Abdul Hafeez said.

"Domestically, areas cultivated with wheat are being expanded as part of a well-thought-out plan to achieve self-sufficiency or semi-self-sufficiency," he said. "At the same time, external wheat sources are being diversified."

"Currently, wheat is arriving from France, the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Argentina, which helped maintain quantities sufficient for several months despite the crisis of the two shipments delayed in Russia," he said.

Russian impediments

Diplomatic intervention at the highest levels was required to release one of the Russian wheat shipments headed for Egypt, Ain Shams University professor of economics Shaher Abdullah told Al-Fassel.

Delaying Russian wheat shipments in this manner "is utterly inappropriate for Egyptian-Russian relations," he said.

Abdullah did not give credence to Moscow's cited reason for the delay -- that the necessary paperwork was not in place.

Rather, "it seemed to be a Russian message to Egypt" in response to the Egyptian move toward "openness to all influential countries," he said.

Egypt's ability to diversify its sources of wheat "is a diplomatic and political achievement in light of the global political divisions, shifting developments and crises popping up around the world," he added.

The crisis of the vessels "will compel the Egyptian political leadership to take more precautions to ensure that there is no shortage in the markets," Abdullah said.

In delaying the shipments of wheat to Egypt, Russia -- which has portrayed Egypt as its main strategic partner in the Mediterranean and North Africa -- has made a move that will have political consequences, he added.