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Egyptian Wheat Farmers Cope with Compounding Disruptions

This year’s wheat harvest season in Egypt—the world’s biggest importer of the staple crop—comes at a time when the U.N. says the Ukraine war has sent international food prices soaring to "a new all-time high, hitting the poorest the hardest,” with the country’s annual inflation rate surging to a three-year high of 14.9 percent. Amid rising global wheat prices and food security concerns, Cairo photojournalist Hamada Elrasam shows the pressures facing Egyptian farmers.

Captions by Elle Kurancid.

Egypt, which imported 80 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine last year, is now turning to alternative markets, including a recent deal with India for half a million tons of the crucial, life-sustaining crop.
1 Egypt, which imported 80 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine last year, is now turning to alternative markets, including a recent deal with India for half a million tons of the crucial, life-sustaining crop.
Mohamed Abdo, a wheat farmer, says, "The daily wage for harvesting workers has been raised from 90 LE ($4.92) last year to 120 LE ($6.56) this year in response to the recent price inflation (of basic commodities)."
2 Mohamed Abdo, a wheat farmer, says, "The daily wage for harvesting workers has been raised from 90 LE ($4.92) last year to 120 LE ($6.56) this year in response to the recent price inflation (of basic commodities)."
The agriculture sector employs approximately 25 percent of Egypt's workforce.
3 The agriculture sector employs approximately 25 percent of Egypt's workforce.
As Egypt seeks to bolster its four-month supply of strategic wheat reserves, local farmers are now required by the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade to sell a percentage of their grain yields to the government.
4 As Egypt seeks to bolster its four-month supply of strategic wheat reserves, local farmers are now required by the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade to sell a percentage of their grain yields to the government.

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