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The conflict over agricultural lands owned by the state to whose favor? Who owns the land in Egypt?
Different state bodies starting by the agricultural reform authority, the endowments' authority, the construction authority, and the state properties' authority own hundreds of thousands of lands. These land areas are subjects of conflict between small farm holders on the one hand, and the more powerful landowners, bullies, businesspersons and others supported by different authorities on the other hands.
There are dozens of stories about the violations that some businesspersons and authorities practice in order to seize the lands belonging to the agricultural reform authority in different governorates in Egypt. This leads to a decline in the conditions of small farm holders and an increase in the fortunes of those who claim property rights, and large-scale landowners, who are supported by the authorities, and the power of security directories, and the members of local and regional councils.
In addition to their focus on some, corrupt officials in this governmental authority, who manipulate the decision concerning seizure, release and farmers' research forms, and property right documents.
The "networks" that the small farm holders have to face are designated by knowing the ways to bypass the laws, and try to create a situation that seem legally proper, and use the law in their battle. By taking advantage of the farmers' ignorance of the laws their pejorative financial conditions, and their undiminished belief that the state is supporting them, the above-mentioned networks actually violate the rights of small farm holders through the state, the farmers' simple rights in secured land ownership
A dignified life.
The most pronounced cases treated by the center are in the following villages:
Ashraf el Baroudy ranch, Eshrak, Moghazeya, Abu Hummus in Beheira governorate (3000 Feddans)
Some villages of Montazah, and Touson in Alexandria (2000 feddans)
South of Port Said region (3000 feddans)
Kafr el Garida villages in Kafr el Sheikh governorate (1500 feddans)
Villages of Dekrans in Dakahleya governorate (500 feddans)
These cases and similar problems are in need for alternative campaigns to protect these land areas that are still owned by the agricultural reform governmental authority. These land areas sustain tens of thousands of small farm holders and their families. However, is there someone in Egypt who would listen to their complaints?
Problems of the Endowments authority come second after the above-mentioned problem, concerning conflict over land ownership. This conflict is unequal, since it takes place between small farm holders, who seized the land ownership, and some large-scale landowners, and some surviving persons from the era of feudalism, using their information about the ownership of Endowment lands that are dispersed in different governorates.
These are supported by corrupt officials, who have the land titles of the locals, local endowment and charity endowment documentation, and the clearest cases for this are in the following areas:
Suds ranch , rashwan, and Ghali in Beni Suef governorate (200 feddans)
Kafr Al feroneya Munofieya governorate (400 Feddans)
Samul and Shmir village and Tanta Al Gharbeya governorate.(526 feddans)
Kafr al Shorafa, Qaliubeya governorate (40 feddans)
Markaz al Menia and Der Mwass in Menia governorate (30 feddans).
As for the lands that belong to the construction authority, which are subject to conflict between the Tycoons in Egypt, supported by bullies and corrupt officials, they could actually seize hundreds of thousands of feddans at very low prices that exceeded in some land areas one billion Egyptian pounds. In addition, due to the absence of control and the spreading of corruption and negligence, these lands, which were supposed to be used for agriculture, were used for constructing resorts and buildings, which increased their gains to billions of Egyptian pounds. In the same time, the construction authority refuses giving small land areas of not more than five feddans to small farm holders, fresh graduates, and those affected by the implementation of the policies. The construction authority claims their turns had not come yet. There are numerous examples, of which the most important are:
Cairo Alexandria desert road (22 thousand feddans)
Al nuqra valley in Aswan (10 thousand feddans)
West Delta in Munofeya (5 thousand feddans)
West Tehta in Suhag (10 thousand feddans)
Al basatin area in Cairo (16 feddans)
Markaz Qena (5 thousand feddans)]
The same conflict applies to tens of thousands of feddans owned by the authority of the State properties, and there is no better example to that than the loss of 132 feddans of the best agricultural lands in Kafr el dawwar and beheira to the benefit of the powerful. These lands were owned by the States' properties authority, in addition to other fifty thousand feddans seized in beni suef, and other five thousand feddans in Suhag seized by businessmen.
Sadly, the large-scale landowners and corrupt persons who could seize tens of thousands of lands throughout the past ten years, and managed to throw out the small scale farmers, never used these lands for agriculture, instead they built villas, spas and resorts, or kept the lands "frozen" to sell them later.
Unfortunately, the ministry of agriculture has no vision as to how to stop the violation on these lands, or for the enabling small-scale farmers from cultivating these lands to support agricultural production, and eventually improving the socioeconomic status for hundreds of thousands of farmers. On the contrary, the ministry seems to cooperate in many areas with large-scale owners to seize lands and waste them or sell them, which threatens agriculture in Egypt , and violates the rights to job opportunities and dignified life of hundreds of thousands of farmers and their families.
In most of the cases monitored by the center, the ministry of internal affairs played a negative role, enabling the large-scale owners from violating the rights of small-scale farmers. To the extent of illegal and immoral intervention, some farmers were tortured, threatened, sent to jail, their crops were uprooted , their wives were locked up and their children were tortured in front of them to force them to give up their lands to the powerful large-scale owners.
In spite of all the guarantees, areas, exemptions that the state offers the large-scale landowners, they suffocate the movements of small-scale farmers to protect their collective rights, for there are still laws that prevent them from organizing themselves independently from the national authorities. Moreover, the law 132 cripples the cooperative associations because of the custody of the ministry of agriculture over these cooperatives. Thus the state disturbs the social, economical, and political balance for the benefit of businessmen and participates in the growth of deformed examples for development that are destined to fail, and result in further detriment in the Egyptian society.
The Center has raised the complaints of the farmers to the officials to stop violating their rights and protect the agricultural resources from wasting. The center requests the urban society institutions and national forces in the society to move towards changing the current policies, materialize an alternative vision that allows the small farm holders from cultivating the state lands, and stop the violations that farmers have to face to and protect their rights to security, freedom, justice and equity.
For more information please contact the Center.