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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 6
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.106.14705.
El-Elsharkasy, S., Meky, F. M. H., Al-Tarawi, A.-S. A. H., Abosalem, A. S. E., El-Megeed, M. A. A. E.-M. A., & Srour, A. H. (2023). Some
Economic Indicators of The Current Situation of Food Vegetable Oils in Egypt and Its Future Prospects. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 10(6). 77-97.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Some Economic Indicators of The Current Situation of Food
Vegetable Oils in Egypt and Its Future Prospects
Shaker El-Elsharkasy
Agricultural Research Center, Agric.
Economic Research Institute, Egypt
Fouad Mohamed Hafeez Meky
Agricultural Research Center, Agric.
Economic Research Institute, Egypt
Abdel-Sattar Abdel Hamid Al-Tarawi
Agricultural Research Center, Agric.
Economic Research Institute, Egypt
Ali Saad Elsayed Abosalem
Agricultural Research Center, Agric.
Economic Research Institute, Egypt
Mohamed Ashraf Abd El-Malek Abd El-Megeed
Agricultural Research Center, Agric.
Economic Research Institute, Egypt
Ahmed Hassan Srour
Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha),
Alexandria University, Egypt
ABSTRACT
Vegetable oils are considered daily basic food commodities, and Egypt is considered
one of the largest importing countries in general. The food gap of food vegetable oils
increases in Egypt due to the population increase, as well as the increase in
individual consumption rates of food oils, and the lack of cultivated areas with oil
food crops. The research aimed to identify the oil food gap, and the study relied on
the method of statistical and quantitative analysis represented in the equations of
the general time trend and choosing the best of them according to economic and
statistical logic. The research concluded that one of the most important dietary oil
crops are crops (soybeans, cottonseeds, sunflower, maize oil, and other oils). By
studying the total average production of these crops during the period (2000-2019),
it amounted to about 107.2, 44.74, 16.89, 11.47, and 10.58 thousand tons,
respectively. 9.01, 38.58 thousand tons, respectively. The research also dealt with
the development of the consumption capacity of food vegetable oils during the
period (2000-2019), as well as the development of individual consumption of food
vegetable oils, the oil food gap, the development of the self-sufficiency rate of food
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 6, June-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
vegetable oils, and some factors that lead to a reduction of the size of the oily food
gap, By studying some indicators of food security for edible oils in Egypt, it became
clear that the population of Egypt during the average period amounted to about
79.56 million people, and a statistically significant annual increase is increasing by
about 1.77 million people. As for the total average production, it amounted to about
202.3 thousand tons, and it increases annually by about 2.03. thousand tons, while
the average imports of edible vegetable oils amounted to about 968 thousand tons,
and it increases annually by about 54.51 thousand tons, and this increase is
statistically significant. As for the average size of the oil gap, it amounted to about
814.2 thousand tons, and it increases annually by about 32.79 thousand tons. This
increase is statistically significant. The average of self-sufficiency rate reached
about 23.21%, and the average per capita share of food vegetable oils reached about
14.42 (kg/year), while the development of the average per capita consumption of
food vegetable oils (calories / day) at the level of the Republic reached about 324.
74 (calories /day) and it is increasing daily by about 8.32 (calories /day). As for the
development of the average per capita consumption of food vegetable oil protein
(grams/day) in Egypt, it amounted to about 35.20 (grams/day), and it is expected
that the average of population, total production, imports, available for
consumption, size of the oil gap, self-sufficiency rate, average per capita
consumption during the average period (2023-2027) about 108.87 million people,
231.41 thousand tons, 1840.80 thousand tons, 2072.21 thousand tons, 1272.76
thousand tons , 15.75%, 20.07 (kg/year), 453.37 calories, 48.52 grams of fat,
respectively.
INTRODUCTION
The crops of soybeans, cottonseeds, peanuts, sunflowers and sesame are considered of the most
important oil crops from which food vegetable oils are extracted, which are considered an
important food source. Their products enter many different industries, including the
manufacture of (paints, dyes, varnishes, and soap). medical preparations and printing ink) and
the oil resulting from extraction products that contain a high percentage of protein, and are
included in many consumers’ favorite foods, which leads to an increase in consumption of them,
and this has been helped by the government's continued support of these commodities as they
are among the most important basic commodities for the Egyptian consumer, especially those
with limited incomes.
In Egypt, it seems clear that the local production of vegetable edible oils is insufficient by
covering local consumption, which is reflected in the low self-sufficiency rate of the group of
vegetable edible oils.
Among the most important factors affecting the oil gap in Egypt are confined to several factors,
including decreasing of local production of vegetable food olis, and thus the decrease in supply,
due to the agricultural sector in general and the production of oil crops in particular.
Agricultural policy is considered one of the most important internal factors affecting the
production of food oils. It includes multiple aspects, the most important of which is pricing
policy, support, distribution, marketing policy and other policies, which in turn are reflected in
farm incomes that determine the degree of response of farmers to increase production of oil
crops. One of the main reasons for importing vegetable food oils is the insufficient production
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El-Elsharkasy, S., Meky, F. M. H., Al-Tarawi, A.-S. A. H., Abosalem, A. S. E., El-Megeed, M. A. A. E.-M. A., & Srour, A. H. (2023). Some Economic
Indicators of The Current Situation of Food Vegetable Oils in Egypt and Its Future Prospects. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(6).
77-97.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.106.14705
of oil crops due to the reluctance of farmers to plant them due to the absence of a clear price
policy.
Edible vegetable oils are also among the most important basic and necessary food commodities
that are indispensable for consumers, both rich and poor alike, and although it is an important
commodity, Egypt produces only 2023 thousand tons, which represents about 17.29% of the
domestic consumption, which amounts to about 1170.3 thousand. tons during the average
period (2000-2019), and the state resorts to filling its needs to fill the deficit between
production and consumption of edible oil of all kinds. Also, as a result of imports, edible oil has
witnessed large price jumps in the markets, especially in the recent period after the flotation of
the Egyptian pound.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
Egypt is considered one of the largest importing countries for food commodities in general,
especially for food vegetable oils, and the growing food gap of food vegetable oils in Egypt due
to the steady population increase, as well as the increase in individual consumption rates of
food vegetable oils, and decreasing of the cultivated crop area in it, which does not exceed only
3% of the total crop area in Egypt, and this may be due to the intense competition between
these crops and other strategic crops such as vegetables and fruits, which has become one of
the major economic challenges in the agricultural sector, and a decrease in the quantities of
local production of them with a successive increase in the quantities of domestic consumption
of food vegetable oils and a steady increase in the size of the oil gap with the decline in self- sufficiency rates of food vegetable oils, until the main problem became in how to provide
foreign currencies to import food vegetable oils from abroad to meet the needs of local food
vegetable oils, until this matter became a pressure on the state's trade balance.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The research aims to achieve the following objectives: -
• Identifying the current situation of vegetable oils and the expected policies in the future.
• Identifying the possibilities available for expanding the production of oil crops, to reduce
the oily food gap,
• Identifying the most important oil crops in Egypt and the production of oils from them,
in order to discuss the possibility of increasing their production, through expansion
horizontal cultivation, lower production costs, and increased yields and reduce its
imports to reduce the oil gap, and then reduce the burden on the balance of payments.
• Studying each of the amount of local production of food oil crops, as well as identifying
the amount of local consumption of food vegetable oils with identifying the size of the
vegetable food gap of food vegetable oils.
• Predicting the production of the most important oil crops in the coming future period
for the crops under study.
• Finally reaching from the results of the research to some recommendations that can be
guided by when laying the foundations for a correct economic policy, which works to
narrow the gap of food vegetable oils, and raise the percentage of self-sufficiency from
it.