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Like the Algerian President and to preserve the dignity of his people
Will President Mubarak drop the debts. Of Egyptian farmers?

The Algerian President has recently declared the cancellation of all farmers debts owed to the state as an encouragement to the rural society to put more efforts in developing the agricultural sector.
The LCHR wonders, why don't Egypt follow the same initiative? Especially that we are suffering from a food gap and the government is concerned of the expansion of this gap and looks for ways to cover that gap. How could that happen without stopping farmers' suffering?
In this context, the LCHR has held a workshop as initiative to stop the suffering of 140 thousand farmers unable to payback their debts to the Band for Development and Agrarian Trust "BDAT", this workshop was attended by 120 participants from Behira, Qalubeya, Bany Swief, Daqahleya, Luxur, Fayoum, Qena, Sohag, Gharbeya, Giza, Ismailia, the New Valley, Asiute and Menya. The participants consisted of 60 farmers, 40 representatives of rural national associations and 20 people representing the press, academics and governmental bodies. 15% of these participants were women.
This workshop was held in cooperation with the Freedoms Committee on 13/6/2009 at the headquarter of the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo under the title "Farmers' Debts & Suggested Solutions".
The meeting discussed the causes behind the deterioration of the conditions of small-scale farmers, which prevented them from paying back their debts to the BDAT and how the government is not helping to solve their problems, but increasing their burden by proceeding with the lawsuits filed by the BDAT against the farmers, leading to their imprisonment and the displacement of their families. At the same time where the government has dropped the debts of many businessmen that exceeded 26 billion Egyptian Pounds.
The meeting presented live testimonies of 19 farmers from different governorates who were unable to payback their debts to the BDAT. Each of them described the reasons behind this and how the Bank's increasing interests and administrative tolls increased the value of their debts dozens of times more. These testimonies also revealed the corruption and fraud cases practiced by the Bank's employees.
The meeting also discussed the possible policies that can be implemented to solve the problem of farmers' debts to the BDAT, by facilitating the payment procedures and providing the farmers with all the necessary means to facilitate the agrarian production process. Some of the provided solutions included: dropping farmers' debts, stopping their imprisonment orders, amending the laws and regulations that organize the work of the BDAT when it comes to dealing with farmers, asserting the principle of free circulation of information, developing the skills and capabilities of the human resources, stop the governmental control and interference in the work of agrarian cooperatives, and organizing awareness campaigns about cases that concern the farmers and their field of work. The meeting also discussed the bad implementation of the economic reform policies and how to overcome that by implementing structural amendment programs and developing the agricultural and funding policies in Egypt. In addition to the necessity of stopping the imprisonment of these farmers, as imprisoning 140 thousand farmers will greatly threaten food security in Egypt.
At the end of the meeting, the participants asserted the necessity of presenting the recommendations discussed in the workshop to President Mubarak to drop farmers' debts and protect their rights to freedom, safety and decent living.
For more information, please contact the Center