Egypt Agrochemicals Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The agrochemicals market in Egypt is estimated to register a CAGR of 2.8% during the forecast period.

The COVID-19 outbreak affected the production and supply of agrochemicals in Egypt. ​In terms of supply, a short-term shortage of migrant laborers amid distribution bottlenecks created a wide gap between the number of workers required to produce agrochemicals and the ones available. The production of crops also decreased due to the unavailability of laborers in large-scale plantations, which reduced the demand for agrochemicals during the pandemic.

In most African countries, agriculture supports the survival and well-being of up to 70% of the population. Egypt is one of the major agriculture-producing countries in the African continent, and more than half of the country’s population is involved in the agricultural sector.

The availability of land for agriculture is highly constricted in Egypt. Thus, the need to improve the efficiency through the usage of agrochemicals has been driving the agrochemical demand. Further, with the economic improvement in some African countries, farmers have become more aware of the need for agrochemicals application on the land. Integrated farming practices, if adopted, may further provide an opportunity for the sector. The high cost of agrochemicals is not always affordable for the poor farmers in Africa. Additionally, there is a need to strengthen the government’s involvement in popularizing agrochemical consumption for better productivity of agricultural lands.

Egypt Agrochemicals Market Trends

Decreasing Per Capita Arable Land and Need for Increased Land Productivity

Egypt's grain productivity is quite low compared to neighboring economies. The major factors behind the low agricultural productivity in Egypt are pest infestation, inadequate infrastructure, limited supply of agricultural inputs, and lack of high-yielding varieties. Modern agrochemical inputs, like pesticides, potentially help farmers boost productivity significantly, particularly in regions like Egypt, where modern input uptake has historically been limited, with low crop yields. Thus, the demand for agrochemicals is anticipated to increase during the forecast period. The region’s population is growing rapidly, thus adding to the food demand. Supplying food to this growing population has become a threat. On the other hand, arable land is declining due to industrialization and urbanization. Fertilizers have been used for a long time to increase the productivity of crops.​ Adequate and balanced use of agrochemicals will help feed the growing population from the available cultivable land., thus boosting the demand for agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, in Egypt.

Increasing Demand for Pesticides

Egypt is known as one of the oldest agricultural civilizations. It has no effective rainfall, except in a narrow band along the Northern coast. The country consumes about 0.2% of agrochemicals of the global consumption. The Ministry of Agriculture carried out the safe use of pesticides, supported by various scientific institutions in Egypt. Pesticides are the major agrochemicals used for plant protection purposes. However, the country is highly import-dependent, as 75% of the pesticide demand is fulfilled by imports. Egypt imports pesticides from 27 countries. According to recent statistics, in terms of the quantities of pesticides exported to Egypt, China ranked first, accounting for around 21% of total imports to Egypt, followed by India with 19%, Germany, Spain, and Japan. ​In 2018, the total number of pesticides registered with generic names in Egypt was 273 pesticides, while the number of commercial products was 1,586. Biopesticides are not popular in Egypt, except for Bacillus thuringiensis, which is registered at the Ministry of Agriculture in Egypt. Thus, such factors are likely to stimulate the growth of pesticides during the forecast period.

Egypt Agrochemicals Market Competitor Analysis

The Egyptian agrochemicals industry is fragmented and dominated by several foreign players. These players are aiming to get a hold of this highly underdeveloped market. Major companies operating in the market are Bayer Crop Science, BASF SE, Corteva Agriscience, CF Industries Holdings, Yara International, Bunge (BG), OCP, Agrium, One Acre Fund, and Sasol. New product launches, mergers and acquisitions, and partnerships are the major strategies adopted by the leading companies in the market.

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