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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 7

Publication Date: July 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.107.15069

Shehata, G. A. B., Srour, A. H. I., Oraby, S. A. M. S., El-Wakeel, S. E.-S. E.-S., & Zahran, H. A.-E. (2023). Some Economic Aspects of

Sugar as a Strategic Commodity in Egypt. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 185-205.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Some Economic Aspects of Sugar as a Strategic Commodity in

Egypt

Gaber Ahmed Bassyouni Shehat

Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture

(Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Egypt

Ahmed Hassan Ismaiel Srour

Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture

(Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Egypt

Shmoaa Awad Mohamed Soliman Oraby

Dept. of Economics and Rural Development, Faculty of Environment

Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, Egypt

Sahar El-Sayed El-Sayed El-Wakeel

Agricultural Economics Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Egypt

Hanan Abd_Elmoneim Zahran

Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture

(Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Egypt

ABSTRACT

The research aims mainly to study Egyptian food security of sugar through studying

of several sub-objectives represented in: estimating some economic indicators of

sugar in Egypt during the period (2008- 2020), studying of the most important

indicators of food security of sugar, estimating the size of the food gap of sugar and

knowledge of the most important factors responsible for, and studying the policies

and means to achieve food security of sugar in Egypt. Descriptive and quantitative

analysis were used. The study depends on secondary data, which collected from

local and foreign sources during the period (2008- 2020). The conduct study shows

that the most important variables specific to the food gap of sugar are all from the

local production of sugar and domestic consumption of sugar where it was found

that the impact of each of these two variables on sugar gap be negative. The study

showed that the strategic stock of sugar is estimated at 1.15 million tons and the

average national consumption of sugar is estimated at 2.17 million tons during the

study period (2008-2020) with an annual average during that period , therefore,

coefficient of sugar food security estimated at about 0.37, therefore it requires to

take various actions that would lead to increase the size of the sugar strategic stock

to enough half of it needs for domestic consumption even come close to the value of

coefficient of food security, from suitable coefficient of sugar food security. The

study showed that the policies and means to achieve sugar food security include

horizontal agricultural development policy, vertical agricultural development

policy, the policy of rationalizing the consumption of sugar, policy of consumer

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

subsidy of sugar, and the policy of diversifying sources of imported sugar. In the

light of the results of the study illustrated by research it has been possible to reach

some of the following recommendations: 1- It is necessary to intensify efforts to

agricultural extension and agricultural research centers in collaboration with

factories engineers and agriculture departments and supervisors agricultural

awareness of the importance of agriculture resistance to pests and diseases that

affect the crop, and help them get on pesticides is harmful to the environment to do

so. 2- Increasing of sugar production through the expansion of sugar crops,

particularly sugar beet to the lack of water needs compared to sugar cane harvest

in the new land. 3- Increasing of sugar productivity crops through dissemination of

sugar varieties of high productivity and to suit every center of administrative

centers in Egypt. 4- Rationalizing the consumption of sugar during dismiss the size

of the loss of sugar. 5- to achieve food security has to be the need to develop

awareness programs for the application of planning policy breeds where it is one of

the most important determinants of the demand for i Egyptian imports of sugar. 6-

it is important to put a national strategy to increase the self-sufficiency ratio of

sugar with the need to import and distribute the amounts of diversification between

different sources in order to avoid what might happen from political pressure in

favor of the Egyptian economy is in the case of international political conditions

change. 7- It is necessary to study the reduction commitments of support granted to

the production and export in the sugar-exporting countries in order to reduce the

negative effects on the Egyptian Saving.

Keywords: Food gap, Food security, Sugar, Egypt

INTRODUCTION

The food problem is considered one of the main problems facing the majority of developing

countries, including Egypt, and the food gap still absorbs the largest part of the income of the

majority of these countries, which results in obstructing their development plans. Food security

is also considered one of the most important issues of national security, as it is an issue with

multiple aspects, closely related to a number of different sectors and institutions in the country,

but it is mainly related to the agricultural sector, and then makes agricultural development

more food production, especially in light of the limited resources Natural, continued population

increase, and then increased demand for food.

Egypt suffers from a low food security situation and an inability to achieve self-sufficiency,

especially from the most important strategic crops, while agricultural development does not

give sufficient attention to increasing the domestic supply of foodstuffs, and relying on imports

to provide many of these strategic commodities such as wheat, sugar, edible oils, and meat of

all kinds.

Sugar considers from one of most important food commodities and basic strategy that follows

wheat in consumer important in Egypt as it is one of the commodities relatively cheap source

of energy, which impair the attention of Egyptian agricultural policy-makers, has become the

food security of major food crops in general and sugar in particular target nationally for its

association with aspects of political, economic and social development, especially in light of

globalization. Reflected the importance of sugar as a strategy commodity on the movement of

international trade and the threat of particular importance to the balance of payments in

developing countries, and the production of sugar in the world depends on two main crops,

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Shehata, G. A. B., Srour, A. H. I., Oraby, S. A. M. S., El-Wakeel, S. E.-S. E.-S., & Zahran, H. A.-E. (2023). Some Economic Aspects of Sugar as a Strategic

Commodity in Egypt. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 185-205.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.107.15069

sugar cane and sugar beets, according to figures during the period of study (2008- 2020) the

average of amount sugar production in Egypt is about 2.36 million tons, sugar cane crop

contributes about 1.21 million tons, representing approximately 51.07% of the total sugar

production, while sugar beet crop contributes about 1.15 million tons, representing

approximately 48.93% of the total production, while the total consumption of sugar is about

3.3 million tons , and up the food gap of sugar is about 1.07 million tons, the self-sufficiency rate

of about 67.58% and the average per capita consumption of sugar is about 31.7 kg per year

(www.capmas.gov.eg.).

The research problem is that despite the increase achieved in the production of sugar crops in

Egypt from the development and modernization of farming methods, however there are still a

gap between sugar production and consumption was estimated at 1233 thousand tons during

the previous period, and the amount of sugar imported about 1193 thousand tons with value of

about $ 2482 million during the previous period (Ministry of Agriculture and land reclamation,

sugar Crops Council, the annual report of crops sugary and sugar production in Egypt, reports

(2008-2020).Due to limited farmland and water resources in Egypt at a time of increasing

aggregate demand on sugar as a result of the increase in population and increasing level of

income which would entail an increase of the food gap of sugar, which is the inability of the

domestic production of sugar to meet the needs of local consumer of it, and are covered by this

sugar gap through sugar imports, which negatively affects the Egyptian agricultural trade

balance which has been suffering from a negative imbalance since the seventies of the last

century and then Egyptian balance of payments . The main objective of this research is studying

some economic aspects of sugar as a strategic crop in Egypt, these objectives can achieve by

achieving the following objectives :

1- Studying of some economic indicators of sugar in Egypt during the period (2008-2020) .

2- Estimating the size of the food gap of sugar and knowledge of the most important factors

responsible on it .

3- Studying of the most important indicators of food security for sugar in Egypt .

4- Studying of policies and means to achieve food security of sugar in Egypt.

The research based on each of the statistic descriptive and quantitative analysis represented in

the estimation of some model’s directivity of economic variables in question in its linear models,

as well as the method was used multiple regression analysis to determine the most important

factors responsible for the size of the sugar gap, the use of certain economic indicators to

measure the impact of factors affecting the coefficient of food security of sugar in Egypt. The

research depends on secondary data published in different bulletin of agricultural economy

issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and land reclamation, and the annual reports of the

various sugar production for the Sugar Crops Council, and the Central Agency for Public

Mobilization and Statistics, as well as bulletins of the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) and ITC calculations based on UN COMTRADE statistics were used, also

some research and scientific communications and some foreign references associated with the

subject of the search, as well as the use of the Internet to get the international information

related to the search.