- Canal Sugar was planning to undertake land reclamation for sugar beet production in Minya. The total area of land is 181,180 feddan, part of which will be planted with sugar beet and other crops while the rest of the area (unsuitable for row crop production) may be used for other future activities.
- Environics was commissioned by Canal Sugar Egypt to carry out a Scoping study for the proposed project in preparation for a full ESIA study (Category C project).
- The objective of the Scoping process was to identify key environmental and social issues at an early stage, to help determine which elements of the proposed development are likely to cause significant effects and identify issues that can be “scoped out” of the assessment, as well as outline the additional investigation/assessment required for those “scoped in”.
- The scope of work covered the different project components and activities including:
- Site preparation and conversion of the project site into an agricultural land;
- Beet plantation and harvesting;
- Irrigation and water management;
- Use and management of fertilizers and pesticides;
- Waste management.
- Facilities related to the project including water & wastewater treatment facilities and housing.
- Environics prepared the scoping Study, which included: Project description; Regulatory framework; Environmental and social baseline information that would feed into the ESIA at a later stage; Preliminary assessment of potential impacts arising from project activities, including any uncertainties that have been identified and require further investigations, as well as Conclusion & recommendations.
