Sharq El Owainat

Sharq El Owainat, or East Oweinat is a 110,000 acre desert land reclamation project that started in 1991, in the New Valley Governorate, Egypt.

[2] The project is operated by the Egyptian Military's National Company for Reclamation and Agriculture in East Oweinat,[1] and in 2021 a further 1.4 million acres were added to its concession.

[3] The Sharq El Owainat project depends on “fossil water” from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, which recharges slowly and is considered a non-renewable resource.

The National Company for Reclamation and Agriculture in East Oweinat has undertaken a large part of the land cultivation, in addition to selling vast plots to other government agencies.

Their cultivation works are seen by some researchers as part of a UAE policy towards consolidating a pivotal role as a food re-export hub, intensifying the industrialisation and commodification of agriculture in the region.