This fact is taken for granted, but it should not make us paint too
sinister a picture to justify the construction of the High Dam, as Hartung
does when he writes (1991: 80), ‘What would the fellaheen have done in the
meagre years of 1966, 1968 and 1969, as well as in the drought years of 1972,
and in particular from 1979 to 1988? Probably millions would have starved.’
It is not legitimate to draw such a comparison with biblical times nowadays;
first, the complete dependence of Egypt on its agriculture is a thing of the
past, and second, there exist today numerous other storage basins along the
Nile course. In 1991/92 agriculture contributed no more than 18 per cent to
Egypt’s GDP, and the country fulfilled 51.8 per cent of its wheat requirements
through imports from abroad (CAPMAS 1993: 78 and 254).