Grabbing from below: a study of land reclamation in Egypt

Abstract

The article questions state land commodification and the expansion of frontiers in land reclamation projects in Egypt. It does so by drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the form of in-depth interviews and archival research on land tenure relations in Wadi Al-Nukra, Upper Egypt. In the article, actors and structure dynamics are situated in the wider political economy framework in order to guide both the data collection and the discussion surrounding the results. The key finding was that agricultural development in the desert created a particular class formation and resulted in specific land concentration. It did not lead to the hegemony of agribusiness nor to the success of desert agriculture in solving agrarian questions or issues relating to food security and population redistribution. The coexistence of different legal frameworks, development policies and discourses concerning allocation of state land, all of these coming from different backgrounds, has led to the concentration of property and to cronyism. It also reveals a deepening social differentiation and class formation. The land reclamation project in desert areas is increasingly moving towards an acceleration of the commodification of state land used for production, accumulation and speculation.

‘Squeezing Out’ the Nile Delta’s Drainage Water to Irrigate Egypt’s Desert Land

“…While land grabbing in Egypt has been covered by various authors (e.g., [6][7][8]), their discussions have not problematized water access arrangements, specifically the reallocation of water to enable land reclamation projects [9,10]. In recent years, with increasing water scarcity and competition for available water resources, the reallocation of water resources in Egypt has become more visible and contentious.…”

Land and small farmer resistance in authoritarian Egypt

“…Agricultural development in desert land seems to have rarely favoured large‐scale international agribusiness, although there is evidence for that with frontier expansion and attempts to pull in Gulf investors (Dixon, 2014; Henderson, 2019). Instead, land reclamation, or to be more precise, the commodification of state land, has favoured accumulation strategies for local elites and land used for speculation or “grabbing from below” (El‐Nour, 2019).…”

“…It is also shaped by the role of local, on the ground state agencies, working with investors and members of the local elite, to convert state desert land into private property. That land may seldom be used for farming but is used for private accumulation and speculation (El‐Nour, 2019).…”

Engaging with the non-human turn: A response to Büscher

“…Rural and urban middle classes and bourgeoisies, alongside transnational capital, benefit from dispossessing the workers of land, water, mining and biodiversity. Resistance is met with political repression and state-sanctioned violence (Amanor, 2008; Ayelazuno, 2011; El Nour, 2019; Greco, 2015b; Kamata, 2008). Struggles for survival are intertwined with the consolidation of a class that excludes the majority from free access to resources and rural livelihoods, often in contexts where environmental conservation aggravates ongoing evictions (Brockington, 2002; Brockington and Igoe, 2006; Fairhead et al, 2012).…”