Positioned in one of the most water-scarce regions in the world, Egypt faces a plethora of challenges regarding water and food security. These challenges are exacerbated by rapid population growth, the adverse effects of climate change and the country&rsquo;s economic development aspirations. Egypt is at a crossroads in its path of socio-economic development where water is at the heart. This commentary examines the new paradigm shift shaping Egypt&rsquo;s water landscape, specifically the new policies affecting the water sector, in three main directions: the digital transformation of the water sector, the massive investment in water infrastructure, and water valuation. Finally, this commentary explores how in this new paradigm higher levels of social justice and equity can be achieved when it comes to water security. It examines and clearly highlights the policies and solutions for more inclusive and equitable water use in Egypt, in the wake of its new paradigm shift.&nbsp;
<h3>Pressing challenges</h3>
Egypt&rsquo;s water security is threatened by multiple challenges, including its exponential population growth, which has put pressure on already strained resources. Nile water accounts for 55.5 billion cubic meters (BCM) of Egypt&rsquo;s total water supply of 60 BCM, which is significantly exceeded by Egypt&rsquo;s water demand of 114 BCM (Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, 2021). Egypt&rsquo;s annual water share per capita is around 570 cubic meters which is well below the water scarcity threshold, and will further decline, as Egypt is expected to reach a population of nearly 120 million by 2030 (Egypt Today, 2021). The challenge of water security is further exacerbated by climate change, where increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation and increased droughts have significant impacts on its water resources (USAID, 2018), including a drop in water availability and productivity during droughts, and heavy urban flash floods (Tawfik et al., 2020). Furthermore, Egypt&rsquo;s economic development aspirations puts additional stress on its water resources, where water availability has been its main limiting factor (Omar &amp; Moussa, 2016). The collection of challenges Egypt&rsquo;s water security faces not only affects the availability of water for development, but it can also further exacerbate inequality and exclusion in access to water. As water is becoming scarcer and more valuable, marginalized stakeholders (women in the value chain, off-grid and poor communities, downstream users, etc.) can suffer further limited access to the right quality, quantity, time and place for their water needs. These challenges have triggered a new paradigm shift in the Egyptian water sector in an effort to address these challenges and mitigate the risks.
<h3>Opportunities for further inclusion in the new paradigm</h3>
This paradigm has three main directions in which Egypt&rsquo;s water sector is transforming to be able to accommodate and deal with its challenges and meet future needs, including the socio-economic development ambitions.&nbsp;
First is the digital transformation of the water sector and the use of advanced technologies and data science in the sector development through digitizing services and the use of mobile applications for water savings. An example of this is the use of mobile phone applications for farmers that provide information on irrigation requirements (duration and frequency) based on remote sensed data. The <a href="https://irwicrop.com/">IRWI Application</a> is one of these applications in Egypt that provides tailored information to farmers for their plots based on weather conditions and crop types. It also integrates geo-specific weather data, extracts crop evapotranspiration values and net primary productivity, enabling farmers to achieve the highest yields using the least amount of water (FAO, 2020; MENAFN, 2020). The application is co-designed and co-created with farmers Other tools at the system level include water accounting<a href="#ref_1">[i]</a> to better understand the status of the resources in terms of use, demand, capacity etc. that inform water planning and policies (Elmahdi, 2019).
Second is the massive investment in water infrastructure such as mega-scale wastewater treatment plants to reuse wastewater for irrigation; desalination plants to augment available water resources for domestic use and urban development, including industrial uses; and the lining of irrigation canals to reduce water loss. Egypt is undergoing a massive infrastructure overhaul with a key focus on water infrastructure, the country has pledged a USD50 billion investment by the year 2037 in drinking water (Novo, 2019). While previously such investments have been focused on urban centers and areas with high-value economic activities, these new investments also target remote areas, coastal zones and less developed governorates (Oxford Business Group, 2020), improving access to water and water quality for the marginalized communities therein. These projects aim to recover water loss and provide new water sources through desalination to be used for different economic activities. This refocus of investments will help to alleviate inequity in access to water and promote resilience for marginalized stakeholders against water insecurity.&nbsp;
Third is holistic water valuation: Egypt is implementing policies that highly value water and its central role and connectivity to other sectors like agriculture, food, energy, industry and tourism. Water subsidies are being reduced; investments are being made in water research and innovation; and water efficiency and productivity are the main drivers of water use and allocation. A holistic approach to valuing water means recognizing its social, economic and environmental dimensions, including the question of inclusivity. One path to consider is designing indicators that take into account the social dimensions of water, this could mean looking at the number of jobs created per cubic meter of water and the size of Base of Pyramid (BoP) users of water.<a href="#ref_2">[ii]</a> Multi-stakeholder participatory approaches in both decision-making and fact-checking, through mechanisms like collaborative exploratory surveys, pilot projects and policy forums, can help to achieve higher levels of inclusiveness and ensure&nbsp; Egypt&rsquo;s water is used more efficiently and equitably (Amerasinghe et al., 2013). These approaches allow all stakeholders (government, NGOs, farmers, private sector, etc.) a seat at the table to plan for the future and make decisions in an inclusive and integrated manner.
<h3>Achieving social justice and equity in water security&nbsp;</h3>
Meeting Egypt&rsquo;s challenges will require bold actions and new mindsets on water and food systems transformation. Achieving social justice and equity through this new paradigm will require:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Egypt to capitalize on basin knowledge networks and existing institutions of cooperation. Egypt could also spearhead efforts to develop a national water accounting database that could support efforts at strengthening the data environment.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Investments in early warning/action &amp; emergency response systems through digital climate-smart agriculture and advisory services, providing farmers with the technology and knowledge to face future challenges.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The main water authorities to continue to invest in hydro-meteorological data and strengthen multi-stakeholders around emerging themes such as (1) communication between management authorities (2) use of digital technology, and (3) promote stronger public-private policy on engagement in agri-business sector development. At the same time, governments cannot do this alone. The private sector needs to contribute through technical support services to exploit high-value crop export opportunities and through advocating for improved value chain coordination mechanisms.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
The above requires the government to adopt more bottom-up planning and implementation to improve equity in water access and use with respect to agricultural water investments &ndash; where they are part of a bigger picture of system management, where they are efficient from economic, social and environmental perspectives, and where they are part of a wider, more coherent, national development vision which has embedded attention to poverty elimination and equality, including gender equality. This entails the concept of nexus governance, requiring policy actors to engage across policy domains and the public and private spheres, and by extension, strengthening human capital and institutions for policy coherence and participatory mechanisms.&nbsp;
<hr>
<a href="#ednref_1">[i]</a> Water accounting mimics financial accounting in its principles and &ldquo;seeks to provide comprehensive, consistent and comparable information related to water for policy- and decision-making to promote a sustainable use of water resources as well as equitable and transparent water governance among water users&rdquo; (Elmahdi, 2019, p. 1).
<a href="#ednref_2">[ii]</a> The BoP population segment is defined as those with annual incomes up to and including USD3000 in local purchasing power (Hammond et al., 2007).
<hr>
References
<ul>
<li>
Amerasinghe, P., Cofie, O. O., Larbi, T. O., &amp; Drechsel, P. (2013). Facilitating outcomes: Multi-stakeholder processes for influencing policy change on urban agriculture in selected West African and South Asian cities (IWMI Research Report 153). Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 34p. doi:10.5337/2013.214
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Egypt Today. (2021). Egypt&rsquo;s census to reach 119.8 million by 2030: CAPMAS. https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/99071/Egypt&rsquo;s-census-to-reach-119-8-million-by-2030-CPAMAS
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Elmahdi, A. (2019). Road maps for water accounting designing and institutionalizing for sustainable water management in MENA region. International Journal of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, 22(4). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.19080/IJESNR.2019.22.556092">http://dx.doi.org/10.19080/IJESNR.2019.22.556092</a>
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
FAO. (2020). IRWI-Phone app gives smallholders farmers opportunity to improve water productivity in Egypt | WaPOR, remote sensing for water productivity | منظمة الأغذية والزراعة للأمم المتحدة. http://www.fao.org/in-action/remote-sensing-for-water-productivity/news-and-events/news/news-details/ar/c/1308366/
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Hammond, A.L., Kramer, W.J., Katz, R.S., Tran, J.T., &amp; Walker, C. (2007). The next 4 billion: Market size and business strategy at the base of the pyramid. International Finance Corporation.&nbsp;
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
MENAFN. (2020). Innovative phone app helps Egypt farmers enhance water, soil productivity | MENAFN.COM. https://menafn.com/1100657378/Innovative-phone-app-helps-Egypt-farmers-enhance-water-soil-productivity
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Mumssen, Y., &amp; Triche, T. A. (2017). Status of Water Sector Regulation in the Middle East and North Africa. In Status of Water Sector Regulation in the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.1596/27465
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Novo, C. (2019). Egypt to invest $50 billion in drinking water by 2037. Smart Water Magazine. https://smartwatermagazine.com/news/smart-water-magazine/egypt-invest-50-billion-drinking-water-2037
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Omar, M. E. D. M., &amp; Moussa, A. M. A. (2016). Water management in Egypt for facing the future challenges. Journal of Advanced Research, 7(3), 403&ndash;412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2016.02.005
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Oxford Business Group. (2020). What is Egypt&rsquo;s strategy for long-term water security? https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/flow-plan-increasing-private-investment-and-constructing-new-desalination-facilities-tackle-water
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
Tawfik, M., Badawy, A., Ali, M., Amdar, N., &amp; Elmahdi, A. (2020). Urban Flash Floods Mitigations: Enhancing the Link between Water, Sanitation and Energy Services in Urban Settings in the MENA Region. Advancements in Civil Engineering &amp; Technology, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.31031/ACET.2020.04.000582
</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">
USAID. (2018). Climate Risk Profile: Egypt.
</li>
</ul>

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