Supporting Women-led Agro-Processing Units

According to the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Egypt sustains a moderate level of food insecurity, ranking 57 out of 125 countries. Food affordability, quality and safety remain challenges due to a reliance on global markets for more than half of its staples.

ERA is pleased to work with the United Nations World Food Program on a post-harvest food loss mitigation initiative. WFP introduced agro-processing to diversify and augment income sources, such as improved post-harvest practices and small-scale food processing. Using WFP-established sun-drying units in six communities, 600 tomato growers were able to preserve their crops for extended periods of time beyond the standard crop season. Each unit employed around 100 women and 40 men throughout the 100 days harvest season to process up to 120,000 pounds of tomatoes.

This program and partnership aims to reduce these losses by 98%, enabling small-holder farmers to save more food and sell more on the open market.