Perishable Terminal Integral to Project Efforts to Bolster Inclusive Value Chains in Upper Egypt
On December 3, the Horticultural Export Improvement Association (HEIA) horticultural pack house in Luxor, Egypt, hosted a VIP group of Egyptian government representatives. The meeting, which ran for nearly two hours, took place at HEIA’s Regional Center of Excellence, which receives support from the USAID-funded Advanced Marketing and Agribusiness Logistics (AMAL) project implemented by ACDI/VOCA. ACDI/VOCA partners with HEIA to integrate smallholder farmers into Egypt’s export market. The Luxor pack house is key to these initiatives to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
Luxor Governor Mohamed Badr, His Excellency the Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil, and HEIA Chairperson Mohsen El Beltagy attended the meeting at the Regional Center of Excellence (RCOE). AMAL Chief of Party Dr. Walid Sallam and Eng. Osama Zaki, DCOP, also attended. HEIA Chairperson El Beltagy spoke and provided insight into pack house operations.
AMAL COP Dr. Sallam outlined AMAL’s goals and objectives in improving livelihoods and establishing linkages between high-value markets and smallholder farmers in Upper Egypt. In his presentation, Dr. Sallam highlighted AMAL’s achievements, including project outreach and operation of the facility to produce and export high-value produce to international markets.
The team then visited the various training rooms in the RCOE, met with project participants to learn about the impact of the project and the usefulness of the knowledge imparted to them through AMAL trainers.
At the pack house, the team observed the equipment and learned about the flow of produce in the pack house. Mr. El Beltagy spoke with the Egyptian government representatives about problems that hinder the full-cycle operations of the pack house, particularly the limited availability of flights from Upper Egypt. The minister promised to propose solutions. The team was highly satisfied with the visit and pleased to learn about AMAL and HEIA’s efforts to improve Upper Egypt’s agricultural sector.
