Agriculture students at four Egyptian universities will soon start studying new curricula that combine interdisciplinary engineering with ecological and environmental aspects.
The new curricula aim to support the Egyptian rural communities by supplying the market with better university graduates and more accessible knowledge hubs for farmers, hoping to steer people away from leaving the countryside and migrating to urban centers and beyond.
“A significant number of people are forced to migrate because of economic pressures,” said Sigward von Laue, president of research and international affairs at Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development, in Cairo. “By enabling farmers and small local businesses to make a good and sustainable living where they are, we reduce the urge for leaving the countryside.”