Counter-Revolution in Egypt's Countryside: Land and Farmers in the Era of Economic Reform (Paperback)

Introduction

This book documents the dimensions to agricultural modernization in Egypt. In particular it assesses the impact of changes in land tenure arrangements for tenants resulting from law 96 of 1992. That law ac- celerated and legitimized the reversal of Nasserist legislation of the 1950s that tried to break the back of Egypt's powerful land-owning class by securing fixed rents for tenants and rights to inherit tenancies in perpetuity.Law 96 of 1992 is one of the most significant measures of the long process of de-Nasserization begun by Sadat soon after Nasser's death and which has been continued by President Mubarak.
Part I documents the context within which law 96 has been promoted by the Government of Egypt. After a comparative review of debates relating to agricultural modernization and land reform, chapter 2 provides a char- acterization of Egypt's economic crisis and the strategy that has been promoted to redress it. Two further themes are then examined. The first of these concerns the debates relating to the possibility that agricultural growth can be driven in Egypt by agribusiness - in short, the promotion of high-value low-nutrition foodstuffs for export. While optimistic about the potential for horticultural export expansion, chapter three indicates a range of political and economic reforms that are needed before any such expansion could be realized. The second theme that is pursued in chapter four is a review of what is often seen as the natural limits to economic development in Egypt, namely the relationship between access to water and cultivable land. Steering away from a reductionist view of environ- mental determinism, chapter four carefully relates issues of land and water availability to development strategy and politics.
Part II examines the impact of law 96. It begins by assessing the way in which the legislation passed through the Egyptian parliament and how the GoE failed to involve farmers and tenants in any debate concerning the law. Chapter six documents how the law promoted the politicization of a range of different land issues.