Egypt and Italy’s ITSAgro rollout begins with 10 schools and no financing figure

Egypt and Italy’s ITSAgro Academy schools are training the country’s next generation of farmers. Of the 26 ITSAgro-partnered schools originally announced last month, 10 will begin classes this academic year across 8 of the 14 participating governorates, EnterpriseAM has learned. The Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry, which co-runs one of the Egyptian-Italian applied technology school programs, confirms a parallel extension of that separate water technology track, with its own application window pushed to the same date.

BACKGROUND- The program was detailed in a 1 July 2026 joint statement from the Education Ministry and the Future of Egypt Authority. The schools span 14 governorates: Alexandria, Dakahlia, Menoufia, Beheira, Qalyubia, Sharqia, Gharbia, Ismailia, Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Luxor, and Aswan. They offer eight specializations: agriculture and irrigation, animal and poultry production, plant production, food processing, beekeeping and silk production, agricultural engineering, fisheries, and laboratory technician training. Students train directly inside Future of Egypt Authority projects, with pathways to either university or direct employment.

The financing gap: Sources tell EnterpriseAM the partnership between the Education Ministry, ITSAgro Academy, and the Future of Egypt Authority involves both technical and financial cooperation among the three parties, though the terms were not disclosed. That’s the first on-record confirmation that the arrangement includes financing. Italy’s own development agency, AICS Cairo, puts its total Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) investment in Egypt at around EUR 30 mn across 10 initiatives as of last month, with individual projects ranging from EUR 1 mn to EUR 6 mn. None of that EUR 30 mn is allocated specifically to the 26 agricultural schools, however.

Egypt’s own numbers on its technical education system keep shifting. At a meeting late last month with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Education Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif put the system at 2.35 mn students across 3.2k specialized schools nationwide. At the same meeting, El Sisi said Egypt’s agreements with Italy will establish 100 applied technology schools beginning this academic year.

The mismatch runs the opposite way at the university level. Egypt’s 27 agricultural faculties and institutes see around 30k students graduate every year, Cairo University Agricultural Economics Professor Gamal Siam tells EnterpriseAM. “Many of them struggle with unemployment, and the majority end up in work outside agriculture,” he says. The real shortage is technicians and holders of intermediate vocational qualifications, the same situation manufacturers complain about when discussing skilled-labor gaps, he explains.

A shrinking extension system: Agricultural graduates are largely choosing higher-paying sectors over farming, Cairo University Agricultural Economics Professor Mohamed Salem Meshaal tells us. He expects the new schools’ spread across 14 governorates to ease rural-to-Cairo migration by creating jobs closer to home.

Europe’s labor pull: The schools will supply qualified labor to domestic producers while also supporting government plans “to export skilled agricultural workers to Europe,” says National Research Center Agricultural Economics Professor Ashraf Fekry Abbas. He adds the Italian partnership will focus on redesigning agricultural curricula in cooperation with Egypt’s Agricultural Research Center to align graduate skills with both local and international employer standards. Former Ain Shams University Agriculture Dean Ahmed Galal tells EnterpriseAM that integrating AI, smart farming, and contract farming into the curriculum “could lower the food import bill while opening new export lines.”

Private capital has already moved into training. Elsewedy University of Technology (SUTech) - Polytechnic of Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding with Al Dahra Egypt, the local subsidiary of UAE-based Al Dahra Agricultural Company, in May 2025. Al Dahra will help design and review training programs for the university’s Agricultural Engineering Technology program.

OUR TAKE- Financing for the 26 schools is now confirmed, but neither Egypt’s own State Information Service nor Italy’s development agency will put a figure on it. The strategy has a clear headcount target, but an undisclosed financing structure, and no visible price tag.

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