Despite the ongoing appeals by researchers and professors at the Agricultural Research Center — which have been sent since the beginning of this April to the presidency and the Council of Ministers, in hopes of halting the decision to relocate the Center to the village of Dahshur and hand over its lands to the Egypt’s Future Authority — and despite warnings that the abandonment of its agricultural lands poses a direct threat to food security inside the country, the government has yet to issue any official response and appears to be proceeding with the implementation of the decision.
Since the first week of April, widespread discontent has prevailed among researchers, academics, and employees at the Agricultural Research Center in Giza, following reports of the government’s intention to relocate the Center along with all its administrations and staff to the village of Dahshur in the Al-Badrashin district, in implementation of a decision by the Prime Minister to allocate 69.55 feddans of its lands to the Egypt’s Future Authority, to be used in projects under its management — amid widespread fears of devastating scientific research and turning fertile agricultural land into real estate projects.
A total of 12,681 researchers — ranging from research assistants to full professors — and 16,927 administrative staff, all members of the Research Staff Club at the Agricultural Research Center, issued a statement rejecting proposals to relocate the Center, affirming that it is not merely buildings or land, but an integrated scientific institution spanning more than a century, comprising fully equipped laboratories, agricultural greenhouses, and fertile land used to conduct experiments, and that it constitutes a fundamental pillar of Egypt’s food security.
The signatories of the statement explained that they are engaged in a continuous race against time to develop crop varieties capable of withstanding climate change and water resource shortages, warning that any measures impeding researchers’ access to their laboratories or experimental farms would directly affect the continuity and outcomes of research. They called for the Center to be preserved and developed rather than relocated, and urged support for its human resources through the annual appointment of top graduates, to inject fresh talent and make use of the expertise of current professors — thereby ensuring the continued advancement of agricultural scientific research.
Simultaneously, questions are being raised about why the official documents pertaining to the transfer of the Center’s assets — including laboratories, greenhouses, and land — to the Egypt’s Future Authority have been concealed. These documents include both the presidential decree and the executive order authorizing the Center’s director to hand over custody of 31 feddans along with their facilities, without having received an officially approved executive instruction from Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly.
The Council of Ministers had issued a decision in July 2025 approving a draft presidential decree to reallocate five plots of land belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in Giza Governorate, within the jurisdiction of the Agricultural Research Center, with a total area of 69.55 feddans distributed as follows: 13.26 feddans, 26.94 feddans, 25.84 feddans, 1.45 feddans, and 2.06 feddans — to the Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development, for use in a number of its projects. An additional plot of 14.39 feddans belonging to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation was also included in the transfer.
“Egypt’s Future” is a government entity that began as a project in 2017 and was renamed in 2022 to “Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development.” It was established by presidential decree No. 591 of 2022, is chaired by Air Force Colonel Baha El-Din Mohamed El-Ghannam, operates under the Egyptian Air Force, and manages major developmental projects including agricultural land reclamation, importing basic commodities such as wheat and oils, food production, real estate, and industrial projects such as infant formula production — all of which have generated significant controversy regarding the nature of its role and its operating mechanisms.
For his part, Dr. Tariq Abu Musa, Professor of Agricultural Economics at the Agricultural Research Center, regards the relocation of the Center as “a catastrophe by all measures, amounting to the systematic dismantling of one of the most important research institutions in Egypt and the region,” describing it as the safety valve for food security and a bulwark against economic crises in Egypt.
He told Zawia3: “This is not the first time that the Center’s lands have been encroached upon,” pointing to the leveling of fertile plots at several research stations — in Bahtim, Ismailia, Sharqia, and Kafr El-Sheikh — lands that were developed and had their fertility improved over decades through the efforts of researchers, and that contributed to achieving major leaps in the productivity of strategic crops.
He explains that these research efforts led to multiplying the productivity of several crops and helped Egypt achieve advanced global rankings in wheat, rice, and corn, in addition to developing water-efficient crop varieties — all through the cumulative work of researchers within the Center. He notes that these achievements were reached under limited resources and low salaries, with many researchers covering research expenses out of their own pockets, yet continuing to work without fanfare. Any compromise of the research infrastructure or squandering of its results, he said, is something that cannot be accepted.
He added: “Preserving and developing the Agricultural Research Center is a strategic necessity, especially given regional challenges and global food crises. Tampering with this research system threatens food security and increases the fragility of the Egyptian economy in facing crises.”
He stressed that real estate projects may have an economic price, but fertile research lands have a value that cannot be compensated or replaced, as they represent the product of long years of accumulated scientific work. He also criticized the double standard whereby “the state criminalizes the encroachment on agricultural land by individuals, while at the same time disposing of agricultural research land in favor of non-agricultural projects” — raising questions about policy consistency.
The Professor of Agricultural Economics warns that weakening agricultural scientific research will widen the food gap and increase dependence on imports, given that Egypt already imports large proportions of its basic commodity needs — such as wheat, legumes, oils, and animal feed — making it more vulnerable to global fluctuations. He notes that the repercussions of these policies will not be limited to the loss of agricultural land, but will extend to a brain drain, as researchers become frustrated and some are pushed into emigration — representing a double loss of Egypt’s scientific and human capital.
Dr. Khaled Ayyad, Professor of Biological Control at the Agricultural Research Center, shares this view, describing the decision as a systematic demolition of scientific research and agriculture in Egypt — particularly in the absence of a clear strategy for developing scientific research or maximizing its benefit. He explains that the Center is the primary applied body for agriculture in Egypt, where research is translated into policies and practices on the ground, and that weakening this role will directly impact crop development and agricultural production.
He told Zawia3: “The Center contains laboratories and equipment on which millions of Egyptian pounds were spent — so what becomes of this infrastructure if the relocation is carried out? Leaving these assets behind or moving them without a clear vision is a waste of resources. Moreover, talking about relocating employees to Dahshur takes no account of the nature of research work, which requires an integrated environment of laboratories, equipment, and support services. A researcher who already bears the cost of publishing and commuting on limited financial resources will not be able to continue with the same efficiency.”
He warns that the impact of the decision will be felt on Egypt’s food security in the coming years, as a decline in agricultural scientific research means a decline in the capacity to develop new varieties and improve production — which could lead to a future food gap.
The Agricultural Research Center professor believes that developing agriculture in Egypt requires supporting — not curtailing — scientific research, establishing clear research policies, drawing on scientific expertise, and providing a suitable working environment for researchers, rather than dismantling existing institutions, especially when more viable alternatives exist, such as strengthening integration between research centers and universities, or developing current facilities instead of relocating them.
Additional Burdens on Thousands of Employees
The Agricultural Research Center, established by Presidential Decree No. 2425 of 1971, is the largest applied research body in Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates under the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and comprises 16 institutes, 12 central laboratories, the Regional Center for Food and Feed, a gene bank, and approximately 52 agricultural research stations covering various Egyptian governorates. It also owns lands in Giza Governorate estimated at hundreds of feddans, distributed across several research sites including stations and experimental farms spanning the areas of Abu Rawash, Al-Mansouria, Al-Haram, Jazirat Al-Dahab, Al-Muneeb, Dokki, and extending to the heart of its main headquarters in Giza.
The number of employees at the Agricultural Research Center is no fewer than 12,681 researchers — ranging from research assistants to full professors — and 16,927 administrative staff, from secretaries to directors-general, according to a recent statement issued by the Research Staff Club at the Agricultural Research Center. According to estimates from the period 2014–2022, the Center comprises approximately 9,816 research staff members and their assistants — ranking first among Egypt’s scientific research centers and academies in terms of the number of researchers — in addition to general administrative and technical staff numbering around 39,749 individuals.
Amid the reports circulating about the relocation of the Center to Dahshur, located in the Al-Badrashin district at a distance of 37.8 kilometers from the Center’s current premises on Cairo University Street in the Dokki district of Giza Governorate — a journey of approximately one hour by car and more than two hours by public transportation — thousands of researchers and employees fear being burdened with additional economic costs from commuting.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Shafi’i, Emeritus Professor at the Agricultural Research Center and former director of the Sugar Crops Research Institute, explains that thousands of the Center’s employees have settled over many years in residential neighborhoods close to their workplace — such as Faisal and Al-Haram — and that relocating them to a more distant location will impose additional living burdens and pressures, whether in terms of commuting costs or daily travel time. He anticipates that these burdens may drive some to completely change their lifestyle or take on financial obligations that are incompatible with current wage levels.
He told Zawia3: “Salaries in the research sector cannot absorb additional increases in living costs, especially given rising transportation prices and recent economic conditions — particularly since many employees do not own cars and rely on public transportation. Any increase in distance means greater cost and time.”
The Emeritus Professor at the Agricultural Research Center believes that the decision, if not thoroughly studied from all angles, could lead to the dismantling of an integrated research system — not only scientifically, but also in terms of the social fabric of its employees. Relocating an institution of this size means reshaping the lives of thousands of families, not merely changing a work address. He warns that ignoring the scientific, social, and economic dimensions of the decision could lead to long-term negative consequences.
He added: “The Agricultural Research Center must be approached as an accumulated scientific and historical asset, not merely a set of buildings that can be moved. The real problem lies in the experimental agricultural lands, greenhouses, and associated laboratories, which constitute an integrated research infrastructure that is difficult to relocate or replicate at a new site — because these lands have been subject to accumulated experiments over decades and are a fundamental part of the research process, not just a space that can be replaced.”
Al-Shafi’i notes that the nature of the soil at the current location — fertile clay soils representative of Egypt’s traditional agricultural environment — differs radically from the desert soils proposed in Dahshur, which could affect the accuracy and relevance of agricultural experiments. He explains that transferring research to a different environment may sever its connection to the agricultural reality of the Nile Valley, where most strategic crops are grown. He maintains that institutional development must be pursued by preserving and strengthening existing assets, not by dismantling and relocating them to unprepared environments.
Dr. Mahmoud Ibrahim Abd Al-Muhsin, Emeritus Professor at the Field Crops Research Institute of the Agricultural Research Center, similarly sees the necessity of keeping the Center at its current location, given its proximity to the Faculty of Agriculture, which creates a suitable environment for research and application. In his view, the relocation represents a destruction of scientific research, and moving researchers to an unprepared site will disrupt research work.
He notes that the nature of the soil in Dahshur differs radically from that at the Center’s current location, as it consists of recently reclaimed desert land that requires many years of rehabilitation before it becomes suitable for conducting precise research experiments. He stresses that agricultural research depends on specific environmental characteristics and cannot simply be transferred to new land without significant scientific losses.
He told Zawia3: “At a time when the state prohibits construction on agricultural land, how can there be any thought of using research agricultural land for the construction of urban projects?.. The Center is a complete scientific landmark, housing advanced laboratories and agricultural experimental lands of a special nature, developed and worked on over long decades. It is an environment of accumulated research experience that cannot easily be replaced.”
He emphasizes that the breakthroughs seen in crop productivity in Egypt over recent decades were a direct result of the scientific research efforts within the Center, explaining that increases in wheat, corn, and rice yields would not have been achieved without the improvement and development programs led by researchers. He considers the preservation and development of the Center to be a necessity for ensuring the sustainability of agricultural production and supporting food security in the country.
From Bread to Land… Egypt’s Future Extends Its Roots into Everything Grown and Eaten
The Absence of Public Dialogue and Parliamentary Debate
The presidential decree to reallocate five plots of land belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in Giza Governorate, from the jurisdiction of the Agricultural Research Center to the Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development, is not the first of its kind nor the last. It was preceded by a presidential decree in 2023 to allocate approximately 42,898.16 feddans of state-owned land in the vicinity of Suez and Ismailia governorates to the National Service Projects Organization for use in reclamation and cultivation activities.
In 2024, Presidential Decree No. 285 was issued, allocating two plots of privately owned state land to the Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development. Throughout the same year, a succession of presidential decrees followed allocating state-owned land and transferring it to the Authority’s ownership, most notably Decrees No. 338 of 2024, allocating 138 feddans, and No. 339, allocating 3,580 feddans of state land in Beheira.
In April of that same year, the Council of Ministers approved a draft presidential decree to strip 12.13 feddans located along the Shatta–Damietta road in the Damietta district of their public benefit designation, and to reallocate them to the Authority for use in establishing an advanced mechanical slaughterhouse and a quarantine facility.
In January 2026, the Council of Ministers reopened the file of allocating state lands to the Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development, following its approval of a draft presidential decree to reallocate vast tracts of state-owned land for use in development projects. In its wake, agricultural land areas of up to 606,000 feddans in Beheira Governorate were transferred from the jurisdiction of the General Authority for Reconstruction and Agricultural Development Projects to the Egypt’s Future Authority.
Simultaneously, lands in Matrouh Governorate were reallocated for development projects, and prior legal transactions within the Al-Alamein corridor and its extensions were ratified while any new transactions were halted, and committees were formed to audit existing situations and contracts — based on Presidential Decree No. 76 of 2020. These decisions, however, triggered disputes with landowners who had purchased their plots through official auctions nearly two decades ago.
The National Center for Planning State Land Uses also approved the transfer of jurisdiction over 32 land plots to the Egypt’s Future Authority in the governorates of Asyut, the Red Sea, the New Valley, Beni Suef, Matrouh, and Gharbia, in addition to 14 plots in Beheira Governorate.
In February of this year, the General Authority for Reconstruction and Agricultural Development Projects issued a decision transferring control over vast land areas in the East Canal zone and south of Port Said to the Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development, pursuant to Circular No. 1002 issued on December 24, 2025.
In this context, MP Sanaa Al-Saeed, a member of the House of Representatives from the Egyptian Democratic Party, expressed her rejection of the idea of relocating the Agricultural Research Center, describing it as a step that raises serious concerns about the future of scientific research and agricultural production in Egypt. She warned of the consequences of stripping fertile agricultural land and converting it into real estate projects, stressing that this contradicts the state’s declared policies on protecting agricultural land and increasing production.
She told Zawia3: “We criminalize the encroachment on agricultural land — so how can we contemplate converting approximately 70 feddans of productive land to non-agricultural uses?.. This step represents a squandering of an existing agricultural asset, particularly at a time when the state is striving to achieve food security and reduce dependence on imports,” underlining the need to preserve agricultural lands and use them optimally.
She explains that the Agricultural Research Center represents an integrated research institution that has been operating for decades, and that any attempt to relocate it without adequate study could negatively impact the outcomes of agricultural research — particularly given the difference in soil characteristics between the current location and the land proposed for the relocation. She notes that soil suitability is an essential element in the success of research experiments and cannot be overlooked.
She added: “Relocating employees and researchers to a more distant site will place additional burdens on them, whether in terms of commuting costs, time, or effort — which in turn may affect the efficiency of research work,” questioning the rationale behind taking such a decision when the Center is already performing its role effectively. She added: “Instead of developing existing institutions, why are we moving toward dismantling or relocating them without clarity of purpose?”
She also criticized the absence of public dialogue and parliamentary debate around such decisions, asserting that “taking decisions of this magnitude without involving those concerned or submitting them for discussion reflects a flaw in decision-making mechanisms,” and that decisions taken without adequate study or broad consultation “could have negative long-term consequences” — calling for the preservation of research institutions, agricultural lands, and the future of agriculture in Egypt.
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Real Estate vs. Agricultural Research
The concerns of researchers and agricultural experts over the potential abandonment of the Center’s agricultural lands — now transferred to the Egypt’s Future Authority — do not arise from a vacuum. They were preceded by the leveling of hundreds of thousands of feddans of Egypt’s finest agricultural land, including research stations belonging to the Agricultural Research Center such as Bahtim and Kafr Hamam, for social housing projects — according to a statement submitted by MP and Secretary-General of the Future of the Homeland Party, Mohamed Abdullah Zein Al-Din, to the government in March 2021.
Economic expert Ilhami Al-Mirghani believes that what is happening reflects a troubling philosophy in managing the education and scientific research sector — one based on establishing educational or research institutions without completing their fundamental requirements, such as medical schools without university hospitals, science faculties without laboratories, or agricultural faculties without experimental farms. He explains that research farms are a fundamental pillar for developing agricultural production, through developing new strains and combating diseases and pests, while the absence of this applied infrastructure turns scientific research into a theoretical activity incapable of generating real impact on the ground.
He told Zawia3: “What is happening is not isolated,” citing previous cases in which fertile agricultural land was converted into urban projects, reflecting “a trend toward wasting agricultural land in the Delta and turning it into concrete blocks, despite its high productive value.”
He adds that the seizure of the Agricultural Research Center’s lands represents a major blow to agricultural development, as it strips the Center of its most important working tool — the land on which experiments are conducted — warning that converting these lands to non-agricultural uses will lead to a weakening of applied research.
He asserts that treating these lands with a short-term investment mentality focused on real estate returns overlooks the strategic value of agricultural scientific research, noting that converting applied research into desk-based research will negatively affect the development of agriculture, and stressing that the continuation of this approach could lead to increased dependence on foreign sources for food — rather than strengthening local capacities — which in turn negatively impacts the trajectory of agricultural development in Egypt.
Zuhdi Al-Shami, economic expert and chairman of the board of trustees of the Popular Socialist Alliance Party, considers that what is being raised around the transfer of Agricultural Research Center lands for use in real estate projects reflects a troubling trend toward prioritizing real estate activity at the expense of production and scientific research.
He emphasizes that converting research and productive assets into real estate investments amounts to a hollowing out of the productive forces in the economy, as countries do not achieve sustainable development through expanding construction, but through supporting productive sectors and strengthening scientific research.
He told Zawia3: “What is happening reflects a distortion in economic priorities, with resources increasingly being directed toward real estate rather than being invested in science and production. The excessive reliance on real estate activity as an engine of growth represents an economically inefficient model — particularly given that a large portion of existing real estate projects suffers from low occupancy rates, amid millions of unoccupied housing units, which raises questions about the viability of expanding this type of investment.”
He considers that tampering with longstanding research institutions and weakening scientific research — or replacing it with non-productive activities — will have deep negative repercussions for the future of Egypt’s economy. He criticizes what he described as the expanding roles of certain entities in managing assets and economic activities, which may lead to overlapping jurisdictions and administrative chaos, noting that the lack of clarity in the distribution of roles raises challenges related to efficiency, transparency, and the possibility of oversight and accountability.
As decisions to reallocate lands to the Egypt’s Future Authority for Sustainable Development accelerate, the future of one of Egypt’s oldest scientific centers remains uncertain. The most important question endures: Can development be achieved without preserving its fundamental tools — foremost among them science and agricultural production?
