“The Nile is our life, but the water is running out”

• Daisy Mohr

  Middle East Correspondent

“Our land is thirsty, our land is thirsty, we would like to give it our blood”. Farmers Serire and his daughter Mervat sing in the autumn heat as they harvest peppers in a field in the Nile Delta. They experience almost every day how fast it gets drier in their region.

The climate summit begins on Sunday in the seaside resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt, the country where Serire and Mervat see the consequences of climate change with their own eyes. They have been working for decades in the land of the Nile delta.

“The Nile is our life and it brings us life, but the water is decreasing,” says Serire. On their knees they hoe the earth. “If we are lucky, the Nile water passes through the canals like this once a week, but we have to irrigate at least four times a week. Along the way, other farmers have often already drawn the water and there is almost nothing left. for us.”

Almost everyone in Egypt lives in and around the Nile Delta. At least 90 percent of the more than 100 million Egyptians depend on the Nile for work, water and food. The river is a lifeline, but the water is running out. Egyptians, for example, are outraged by the controversial dam Ethiopia has built, reducing water from the Nile that reaches Egypt. Furthermore, there is almost no precipitation and salinization is a growing problem.

Many trees and crops no longer grow due to the increasingly salty soil:

“I need a lot of groundwater,” sighs landowner Ahmad Abu Khatwa. A water pump hums in the background, water lapping over the edges. “But I want my Nile water, the best water in the world. We will not survive here without my Nile water,” says Abu Khatwa.

A horse walks across the land with a chariot behind. That’s how he’s been here for centuries. Abu Khatwa is the fourth generation to cultivate this land. “My father, grandfather and great grandfather didn’t have these problems.” He proudly walks through the fields and runs his hand over the plants. “Look, my peppers are thirsty. You see it right away. They shout: I need water Ahmad. And I say: inshallah I can arrange it for you. “

Often thinks back to the days when there was enough water. “With more water, everything would grow much better. The harvest would double, but it’s not there,” says Abu Khatwa, looking at his green beans destined for export to Europe.

Max Abouleish is associated with the so-called Sekem initiative in the countryside north of Cairo. As part of that initiative, he works closely with 2,000 farmers across Egypt. They see sustainable agriculture as an important part of the fight against climate change.

“The behavior of people and farmers does not yet reflect the urgent situation. We see very traditional ways of treating Nile water. Flood irrigation, for example, is certainly not the most water efficient way.” says Abouleish.

According to him, there is a lot to be gained from introducing more efficient water techniques. Abouleish: “83 percent of water consumption is driven by agriculture. So this is where the most progress can be made.”

Better techniques can make the ground more “resilient,” says Abuleish. This will help farmers in a country already severely affected by climate change. Not only because it is very hot, but also because we are experiencing a climate fluctuation that makes it difficult for farmers to cope with climate change, “says Abuleish.” And even on a global scale, Egypt faces the danger of rising food levels. ‘water as due to the enormous population density in the Nile delta “.

When landowner Abu Khatwa wakes up early in the morning, he checks the Nile water in his canals first. It’s less and less like this: “I worry about the crops I can’t grow anymore. This is the first season I plant sesame,” he says.

Shake the sesame seeds from some branches of the field. “Sesame hardly needs water. At least that way I’ll be less bothered. For me the Nile is my life, I can’t live without the Nile water. My only worry is that the water is running out, so the Nile it will not do so it will not be enough for us anymore, I could do it for the next few years, but what will it be like for the next generations who will have to irrigate my land?