Alan Richards - Egypts Agricultural Development, 1800-1980: Technical and Social Change

Egypt's Agricultural Development, 1800-1980

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Alan Richards

One of the principal factors underlying Anwar Sadat's willingness to sign a peace treaty with Israel was the deplorable state of the Egyptian economy. Multiplying shortages, deteriorating infrastructures, and spiraling foreign debts fill the economic news from Egypt. A central component of this domestic crisis is agriculture. Agriculture forms the basis for a vast portion of the Egyptian economy, accounting for nearly half the country's employment and nearly a third of its gross national product, as well as providing materials for over half of its industry.

This book describes and interprets the transformation of Egyptian agriculture from the beginning of cotton cultivation in the early nineteenth century to the current changes under Sadat. The author uses both microeconomic theory and social and political analysis to show how the interaction of social classes, technical change, government policy, and the international and state systems have shaped Egypt's agricultural development. Arguing that these forces are bound up in a complex web of reciprocal causation, he places the current dilemmas of Egyptian agriculture in historical perspective.

Dr. Richards is assistant professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Technical and Social Change

Alan Richards

First published 1982 by Westview Press

Published 2018 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Richards, Alan, 1946
Egypt's agricultural development, 1800-1980.
(A Westview replica edition)
Revision of thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Agriculture--Economic aspects--Egypt--History. I. Title. II. Series.
HD2123.R5 1981 338.1'0962 81-12919
ISBN 0-86531-099-8 AACR2

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-01852-8(hbk)

1 feddan = 1.038 acres = .42 ha.

1 qantar = 99.05 lbs = 44.928 kgs. (cotton, sugar cane)

1 metric qantar =346.5 lbs - 157,5 kgs. (cotton)

1 ardeb = 5.62 bushels = 198 liters

1 ardeb (wheat) = 330 lbs. = 150 kg.

1 ardeb (maize, sorghum) = 308 lbs. = 140 kg.

1 ardeb (beans) = 341 lbs. = 155 kg.

1 ardeb (barley) = 264 lbs. = 120 kg.

1 darlia (rice) = 2,079 lbs. = 945 kg.

1 L.E. (Egyptian Pound) = 100 P.T, (Piastres Tariffe)

Until May, 1962, 1 L.E. = 1 oz 6d, Sterling.

Since then its exchange value has fluctuated widely. In December, 1980:

Unified Exchange Kate: 1 L.E. = $.69

I have incurred many debts in writing this book. The work began as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I am indebted above all to my faculty advisor, Peter H. Lindert, now of University of California, Davis, for his probing criticism and for his unflagging, many-sided support. His help was truly invaluable. Jeffrey G. Williamson spotted various holes in the argument and encouraged me to revise the dissertation for publication. Bent Hansen read and commented upon the entire dissertation. His searching critique saved me from a variety of errors of fact and interpretation. I am very grateful to all three of these men.

I would also like to thank the following people for helpful discussions of various issues and for general encouragement: J.A. Allan, Galal Amin, Jennifer Bremer, Edmund Burke, III, Byron Cannon, Frank C. Child, Kenneth A, Cuno, James A. Fitch, Saad Gadalla, Ahmad Goueli, Walter Goldfrank, Isebill Gruhn, Nicholas Hopkins, Malcolm Kerr, Paul Lubeck, Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot, Philip A. Martin, Samir Radwan, Vernon Ruttan, Robert Springborg, Sarah Potts Voll, John Waterbury, Marvin Weinbaum, and the members of the Santa Cruz Faculty Seminar in Comparative History. Financial support for various stages of the research came from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School, the Division of Social Science and the Faculty Senate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the Agricultural Development Systems Project of the University of CaliforniaEgyptian Ministry of AgricultureU.S.A.I.D. I would like to thank Patrick O'Brien for first interesting me in Egyptian affairs. I am indebted to the University of California Press, Cambridge University Press, the University of Chicago Press, Frank Cass and Co. Ltd, MERIP, and Sage Press, for permission to draw on portions of journal articles which appeared in Agricultural History , Comparative Studies in Society and History , Economic Development and Cultural Change , Journal of Development Studies , Middle East Research and Information Project Report , Middle Eastern Studies , and Review . Thanks also to Gayla Nethercott, Alyssa Postlewait and Nikoletta Bolas for preparing the manuscript for publication on the UNIX system, to Peter Broadwell for the graphs, and to Annette Whelan for the maps and diagrams. Finally, I would like to thank my family.