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If you are not ashamed, you can do whatever you want The Gravid Calf Project is an example of impossible development in Egypt ..... Will the World Bank’s financing of the Upper Egypt Development Project have the same results?
The LCHR received complaints from some farmers who live in Rsiqat Bahry, Arment, Qena Governorate. In their complaints the farmers stated that they bought some calves from the agriculture association in the region under the Gravid Calf Project. They were given the calves on the condition that the first installment will be collected with the cane juice season.
The were surprised by the association giving them three blankets each. And, after they handed over their sugar cane crop to the sugar company in Arment, they were surprised to find that the company has deducted an amount of three thousands pounds "the value of the crop", under the claim of collecting the first installment of the price of the calves and the blankets, leaving them without any money left from the production of the sugar cane crop to spent on themselves and their families.
In their complaints the farmers wonder: .... How can they meet the basic needs of their families if the value of the production of the sugar cane crop is not enough for paying the first installment of the Gravid Calf Project and the winter blankets?
The LCHR questions the feasibility of such development projects, that reproduce poverty and lead to the erosion of the incomes of farmers? How can such projects be considered as development projects that improve the conditions of farmers, if the results lead to the seizure of their income and deprives them from practicing their work in agriculture?!.
In the context of the Upper Egypt Development Project, which is financed by the World Bank, and implemented by the Minstiry of Local Devolpment, the LCHR demands the Prime Minister and Minister of Local Development to establish controls and indicators that would reduce poverty and support the development and protection of the rights of farmers, especially as the World Bank report issued in 2008 confirms that agriculture is the only way and the only guarantee for the development of the countryside. Rural development associations must also participate in the implementation of these projects, and the role of government must be limited to control, guidance and support in order to ensure the participation of citizens and to maximize the benefits and objectives of development projects.
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