Society and the uncivil state: land tenure reform in Egypt and the crisis of rural livelihoods

This paper examines the impact of recent changes in the relationship between landowners and tenants in Egypt. The paper explores the links between economic and political liberalisation, specifically rural livelihoods, asset redistribution and land tenure.The author identifies two questions relating to Egypt’s rural areas that the government is reluctant to address.the likely outcome of the state’s withdrawal from the provision of agricultural inputswhether civil society organisations have been able to substitute for the state’s withdrawal from agricultural provision, whether this has ushered in a new era for political liberalisation and democratisation.Donors and the government intended the 1992 reform of tenancy to promote improvements in Egypt’s land market and, in parallel, enhanced opportunities for rural political expression. However this has not taken place. Market liberalisation has generated greater rural poverty and unemployment, resulting in greater dependence on family resources for the peasants.The author argues that the current land reform situation in Egypt is characterised by the devastation of agricultural co-operatives, the non-existent rural trade unions, and agricultural research centres that are keen to accrue donor resources via economic liberalisation.