Effects of Egyptian economic reforms: the horticultural sector

The objective of this paper is to analyze the impacts of the economic policy reforms on the Egyptian horticultural sector, Data were collected over a 5-year period before major economic reforms (1981-85) and over the latest 5-year period since the reforms (1990-94), Data include cultivated area, yield, production, consumption, imports, and exports for the most important Egyptian fruit and vegetable crops. Production and net exports of fruit and vegetable crops have increased which correspond with the objectives of the policy reforms. Both market reforms and land reclamation have spurred growth in the Egyptian horticultural sector. Market reforms have greatly affected exports and have shifted the allocation of land to higher value crops, Specifically, the reforms have shifted land from field crops to horticultural crops and shifted land to the production of tomatoes and potatoes, Land reclamation has vastly increased the fruit area harvested and this has greatly influenced the Egyptian fruit crops. For vegetable crops, the large increases in yields appear to be attributable to an increase in the number of larger, more technologically advanced farms in the new lands. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.