Effects of policy reform under APRP [agricultural policy reform program] : progress indicators, 1990-1999

The indicators generally provide a good picture of the short- and medium-term effects of some key reforms carried out under APRP. Longer-term impacts are being assessed separately. Of the 12 indicators presented, 10 generally increased during APRP, and all but one of these seems to have been positively affected by policies during the period. Only the indicator for yarn exports fell during APRP. Types of progress during APRP that have led to these changes in the indicators include: privatization of two of the five public cotton ginning companies; gradual improvements in policies affecting cotton exports, privatization sales, leases, and private sector incentives to invest in modern cotton spinning; and consolidation of the return to private marketing of fertilizer through an early policy benchmark. Many other types of progress are underway: there have been improvements in water management, including the matching of irrigation supply and demand through the collection of real-time planting intentions data and the coordination of planting and irrigating of short-season rice varieties, leading to a shorter irrigation season and water savings; the Alexandria Cotton Exporters Association (ALCOTEXA) is now run by a truly private management team contemplating important changes in export pricing and grading of cotton; commodity councils are taking part in policy formulation; and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) is making many improvements in its systems for collection, analysis, and publication of production (including pre-harvest forecasts) and farm-income data, which will assist farmers and traders in making planting and marketing decisions. The progress indicators are summarized individually in a matrix that provides a brief narrative of the effects on that indicator of the policy reforms during the 1990-99 period, with special emphasis on the 1996-99 period. Full details on these progress indicators are given in the body of the report. The data for a significant number of indicators are either unpublished, have not been disseminated widely, or are available only in highly aggregated form. If the transition to a market-based economy is to proceed smoothly and efficiently, the Government of Egypt should publish all such essential data in a careful, timely, and open manner. (Author abstract, modified)