Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture through Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA) in Egypt

Background

Egypt’s agrifood systems are economically significant but climate stressed. Agriculture contributes about 11% of GDP (USD 37.4 billion as of 2022). Animal production (livestock and dairy) is a major subcomponent totaling approximately USD 13.7 billion), with dairy production of around six million tonnes milk/year. The dairy subsector represents 37.5% of agricultural production. Over 1.8 million households depend on livestock; smallholder dairy production dominates the informal economy.  The Nile Delta is Egypt’s main dairy producing region, making up nearly 56% of production. Systems range from intensive (6% of livestock) to semi-intensive, and smallholder systems are extensive, making up 75% of production.

Dairy is important for household nutrition and income. Women also play vital roles in livestock and dairy-related tasks, and this subsector is an important source of income for women. However, women face ongoing constraints related to land tenure, access to finance, and overall decision support. A gender study conducted under SCALA found that while women are heavily involved in livestock and dairy, their adaptive capacity is limited by these constraints. These findings were incorporated into the socio-economic assessments conducted as part of NAP development.

Climate change is presenting additional challenges for agriculture and food systems in Egypt. Rising temperatures, heat stress, and water scarcity and contributing to feed shortages and disease outbreaks, which are resulting in reduced yields. Egypt is also not self-sufficient in terms of animal feed, producing just 35% of total demand; this makes the country susceptible to feed price shocks. Post harvest losses of dairy are also as high as 15% due to cold-chain gaps. The livestock sector is also a source of GHG emissions, not only from enteric methane but also from manure due to poor management.

Egypt’s agricultural sector and its livestock/dairy subsector have ample opportunities for adaptation and resilience alongside mitigation co-benefits. Opportunities include recycling agricultural waste for fertilizer and using manure to generate biogas; on-farm solar for production and value chains; improvements in feeding efficiency; and plant-based dairy alternatives. In addition to improving resilience and reducing emissions. These high-impact opportunities can create new revenue streams and may attract private finance if de-risked.

Activities

The process is led by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture under the framework of the National Climate Change Committee (NCCC). The NCCC serves as the national coordinating body, with a designated focal point responsible for internal coordination and reporting on climate action priorities, including food systems and food security. Within SCALA, the task force established under this framework included NCCC members to strengthen capacities and support the identification of priority areas for the NAP and NBSAP.

SCALA has supported the review of existing evidence on climate risk, vulnerabilities, and adaptation in different agriculture systems, including identifying data gaps (especially on gender), assessing agricultural subsectors, and conducting risk and vulnerability assessments. The studies draw on national strategies (NCCS 2050), international frameworks (UNFCCC/GAP/Koronivia/SJWA referenced in the gender report) and applied tools (SHARP+ resilience assessment and surveys). The dairy report combines KIIs/FGDs, value-chain mapping, private sector surveys and economic modelling to prioritize interventions aligned with NDC/NAP objectives.

Through consultation sessions, six agricultural subsectors were identified as priorities: animal production and health, plant production, plant protection, poultry, fisheries, and soil & water. These priority subsectors reflect concrete components of the food system.

SCALA training-of-trainers workshops were held for staff from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Climate Information Center and the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Environment. These aimed to build skills for facilitating agricultural subsector dialogues, generating climate data, assessing risks and vulnerabilities, prioritizing adaptation options, and GAPS in each sector

FAO led sessions under the “achieving food security under climate change” theme in the social dialogue established by MoE under The National Climate Change Strategy 2050. The SCALA program participated with other projects to share knowledge and facilitate technical discussions, providing expertise on climate-resilient agriculture, supporting the integration of food security into local adaptation planning, and ensuring the voices of rural and farming communities are reflected in the outcomes.

In parallel, SCALA has actively engaged youth as key actors in climate policy processes. Multiple sessions and training were organized to build youth capacities in climate action, strengthen their technical knowledge, and empower them to contribute directly to national and international policy platforms, including representation and participation at COP events.

Gender is a cross-cutting priority within SCALA’s work in Egypt. The dedicated gender assessment recommends a shift from gender-responsive to gender-transformative approaches, ensuring that women’s roles, constraints, and opportunities are systematically reflected in the policies and strategies. This was achieved using tools such as SHARP+ surveys, structured women-only assessments, and alignment with national gender strategies. Training approaches and capacity-building activities were deliberately tailored to women’s needs, thereby enhancing equitable participation and access.

SCALA facilitated the shift from gender-responsive to gender-transformative approaches by applying targeted studies in the priority dairy sector. These studies served as guiding tools to ensure that both the NAP and NBSAP integrate gender considerations and apply clear methodologies for gender inclusion analysis.

Impact

The updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2024–2030) includes a comprehensive set of targets that directly addresses agriculture, food systems, and their interlinkages with biodiversity, climate, and sustainable development. These measures cut across crops, livestock, fisheries, water, ecosystems, and social dimensions such as gender and community participation:

By 2030, agricultural production, fisheries, aquaculture and fish farming are managed sustainably in a manner that ensures the continuity and/or renewal of these natural resources, while expanding the application of best practices for achieving food security. The NBSAP also calls for the rehabilitation and restoration of 20% of degraded ecological areas and their natural value, ensuring their connectivity and ability to provide environmental services, with a priority focus on wetlands. The NBSAP also aims to minimize the negative impacts of climate change on biodiversity and sensitive ecological areas and enhance their resilience and implement adaptation and mitigation measures using nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches. Lastly, the Strategy supports taking the necessary measures to implement the Biodiversity Finance Plan and innovative solutions to bridge the financing gap between governmental and non-governmental sources.

There are seven targets within the global biodiversity framework that have not been addressed at the national level: (1) nature’s contributions to people, (2) access to green and blue spaces, (3) sustainable production and supply chain, (4) sustainable consumption, (5) elimination of harmful incentives, (6) fair, inclusive and effective participation in decision-making, and (7) gender equality.

Egypt’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), as part of its climate action planning, explicitly targets the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector, including the dairy subsector, by mandating measures such as the recycling of agricultural waste and manure as part of mitigation efforts. Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS 2050), adopted in 2022, expands its adaptation and mitigation framework across all major sectors, including agriculture and livestock and explicitly prioritizes building sectoral resilience and strengthening governance and climate financing systems. The strategy emphasizes enhancing the adaptive capacity of the livestock sector, particularly dairy, by integrating climate-resilient animal production practices, early-warning systems, and improvements in water and feed management measures that align directly with dairy resilience goals.

In terms of finance, priorities include de-risking (blended finance, first-loss capital, concessional loans), policy/regulatory reform (streamlined permitting for renewables, support for carbon crediting/biogas markets), PPPs, capacity building and market development (consumer awareness, standards). Gender-transformative recommendations include land/asset access, tailored credit for women, women-friendly training schedules, support for women’s cooperatives to improve market access and bargaining power. These are recommended entry points for integrating equality into NDC/NAP implementation**.**