The University of Cairo is set to launch the "Green Egypt" project aimed at planting one million fruit trees within four years.
The project will be overseen by professors from the university's Faculty of Agriculture, implemented by students and technicians and funded by a private company.
President of Cairo University Dr. Mohamed el-Khosht said in a press release on Monday: "The project is a new model of cooperation between the university and the private sector that aims at contributing to the sustainable development, as the Egyptian agriculture industry is one of the major pillars of the country's economic growth."
Last year, the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi launched the "Fruitful Egypt" campaign aimed at cultivating more fruit trees on streets and in schools, cities and villages.
Many local officials have started implementing the initiative in cities and villages to form a green belt linked to the other planted areas.
The University of Cairo's cultivation project comprises many types of fruit trees such as orange and guava.
Dr. Amr Mostafa, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, said: "The projects fulfills many of the faculty's educational goals by providing opportunities of vocational training for thousands of students in many areas to help them decide their professional paths in the future.”
It also supplies them with the needed expertise, “along with supporting the technical and financial capacities of the faculty so it can improve its performance."
