The question is whether it is really desirable given the land shortage
in the country to turn plant production into animal production. From the
point of view of the fellaheen, this form of processing of biomass seems to
be worthwhile, otherwise they would be unlikely to practise it. In terms of
the macro-economy, other factors have to be taken into consideration. It was
discovered that the production of one hundred calories through the meat of
the water buffalo is fifty-five times as costly as the same amount produced
through maize or sorghum, and twenty-one times as costly as through fava
beans, which are also of high nutritional value for other reasons (Abdel-Fadil
1975: 75). Until the 1990s price relations in Egypt were extremely distorted
through state subsidies for bread and the control of prices for agrarian goods,
so that often prices for animal feed were higher than those for food for the
people. When, in the 1980s, the price of wheat straw was six times as high
as that of wheat, the fellaheen naturally tried to sell their wheat unthreshed,
though this was illegal. The competition between the cultivation of fodder
plants and of crops for human consumption will lead to a critical situation
in Egypt in the very near future, since demand for meat is growing steadily
in the country. This is due not only to the population explosion, but also to
changing food habits in certain sectors of Egyptian society. Between 1972 and
1998 the annual per capita consumption of meat, including poultry, nearly
tripled (CAPMAS 1980: 218; CAPMAS 2000: 72).
in the country to turn plant production into animal production. From the
point of view of the fellaheen, this form of processing of biomass seems to
be worthwhile, otherwise they would be unlikely to practise it. In terms of
the macro-economy, other factors have to be taken into consideration. It was
discovered that the production of one hundred calories through the meat of
the water buffalo is fifty-five times as costly as the same amount produced
through maize or sorghum, and twenty-one times as costly as through fava
beans, which are also of high nutritional value for other reasons (Abdel-Fadil
1975: 75). Until the 1990s price relations in Egypt were extremely distorted
through state subsidies for bread and the control of prices for agrarian goods,
so that often prices for animal feed were higher than those for food for the
people. When, in the 1980s, the price of wheat straw was six times as high
as that of wheat, the fellaheen naturally tried to sell their wheat unthreshed,
though this was illegal. The competition between the cultivation of fodder
plants and of crops for human consumption will lead to a critical situation
in Egypt in the very near future, since demand for meat is growing steadily
in the country. This is due not only to the population explosion, but also to
changing food habits in certain sectors of Egyptian society. Between 1972 and
1998 the annual per capita consumption of meat, including poultry, nearly
tripled (CAPMAS 1980: 218; CAPMAS 2000: 72).
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