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A key challenge for the agriculture sector in Egypt is to feed its growing population in the context of increasing demand on the finite water resources and a trade deficit. Horizontal expansion into new land in the desert has long been strategic in meeting this challenge. Major land reclamation activities have been initiated under the National Reclamation Project, with the objective of increasing agricultural land area by two percent, making agricultural land nine percent of the total area of Egypt. These activities aim to sustainably use the groundwater resources of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer and other GW systems in different parts of Egypt to irrigate an area of up to 1.5 million feddan (630 000 ha). To this end, the Government of Egypt requested FAO support to the land reclamation programme. Within the Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity, FAO would pilot a data and information management system, based on monitoring and remote sensing (RS) data to assist MWRI and MALR to monitor water consumption and water productivity in the newly reclaimed areas.