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Agriculture and Rural Development

  1. Research at AUC
  2. Social Research Center
  3. Research Themes
  4. Agriculture and Rural Development

For almost two decades, this area has had a strong and continuous record of work. This theme has attracted funding and SRC has been carrying out projects, even at times when this issue receded as a research and policy priority. SRC’s sustained contributions in this area are being particularly appreciated now with the renewed interest in agriculture in Egypt, the region and worldwide as a result of the food crisis. 
 

Recent projects dealing with agriculture and rural society links up with SRC’s current priorities and major programmatic directions,  especially the emphasis on poverty and environment, in addition to the regional reach and capacity building.

SRC Activities

The capacity building initiative of the Junior Scholars Group:
The SRC has in 2007, with the Poverty Dynamics project, started this initiative which has helped in building and enhancing the capacities of eight young researchers in Egypt and Tunis. This initiative has continued with the Rural Environment project, and now it is bearing fruit with the achievement of the objective of creating a critical mass of uniquely trained researchers that would be the nucleus of the next generation of scholars who would take the lead in shaping the future of rural studies in Egypt and the region.

SRC Publications

Hopkins, Nicholas and Westergaard, Kirsten (eds). “Directions of Change in Rural Egypt.” American University Press.1998

Bush, Ray (ed). “Counter-Revolution in Egypt’s Countryside: Land and Farmers in the Era of Economic Reform.” London: Zed Books. 2002

Hopkins, Nicholas and Saad, Reem (eds). “Upper Egypt: Identity and Change.” American University in Cairo Press. 2004

Three of the most important publications on rural Egypt over the past decade are direct products of SRC projects:

SRC Projects:

Rural Environment Marginalization and Access to Resources:
This project seeks to achieve in-depth understanding of the dynamic relationship between resource right, marginalization and environmental well-being.

Poverty dynamics, access to resources and social change in rural MENA: A gendered approach:
This project helped to carry out for the first time a comparative study between rural Egypt and Tunisia; two countries that were highly affected by the structural adjustment and liberalization policies, and also cover most of the variations in the agricultural systems of the region (irrigation, rain-fed and arid agriculture).

Socio-Economic Impact of the West Nubaria Rural Development Project:
The objective of this survey was to study the impact of the West Nubaria Rural Development project activities on the hygienic,environmental, educational and economic circumstances of the beneficiaries.

For more information on rural development projects conducted by SRC, click here.