The Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC) operates an extensive handling and storage infrastructure consisting of shounas (mostly open-air storage sites), warehouses, and mandubias (retail outlets).
Shounas, the focal point of the Egyptian agricultural storage system at the wholesale level, are open spaces ranging in size from 2000 m2 to 20.000 m2. The 545 shounas operated by PBDAC have a combined area of 4.1 million m2; 59% (by area) are owned by PBDAC.
A shouna is usually enclosed by a simple wire fence and generally includes a small office, and a shed consisting of a floor and roof but no walls (the shed is generally used for storing gunny bags). Some shounas also have warehouses of different sizes. Truck scales and paving are rare, and mechanised materials handling systems are not existing in the shounas.
The principal purpose of the shounas is to provide storage facilities for various agricultural commodities, but the range of items handled and the scale of operations vary from shouna to shouna.
Shounas also serve as procurement and, subsequently storage points for domestically produced grains and pulses; as wholesale outlets for agricultural inputs; as retail outlets for animal feed, and as inland terminals for imported corn.
Of the 326 warehouses, PBDAC owns 86 % of the existing capacity; the rest is rented.
PBDAC warehouses are covered structures of masonry with walls and usually have a surface of about 1000m2. The design and materials used in their construction differ, as does their age and state of maintenance. Existing warehouse capacity is sufficient to store about 500.000 metric tons and is used exclusively for fertilisers and pesticides. Some of the warehouses are located outside the shounas. These free-standing warehouses are generally used as wholesale distribution terminals for agricultural inputs, particularly fertilisers and pesticides.
Mandubias are village level retail outlets for agricultural production inputs; their number about 4.300. They are usually less than 400 m2 each and sell agricultural inputs to farmers on cash or credit. Most mandubias are in rented buildings.
The average annual throughout of the commodities through the shouna system is about 6.6 million tons. Since covered warehousing capacity is only about 500.000 tons, warehouses are mainly used for storing pesticides and some fertilisers. The remaining fertilisers, animal feed and all grains are stored in the open area of the shounas.
The current infrastructure for handling and storing agricultural production inputs and products has the following major weaknesses:
· the paucity of covered storage space;
· the absence of handling equipment;
· the staff to deal with storage, handling and protection of stored grains are not · sufficiently trained.
· hygienic and sanitary measures are not efficiently considered and strictly handled
Besides, grains, pulses and imported corn stored in shounas are exposed directly to heat, humidity, insects, birds and rodent damage; scanty dunnage, and absence of adequate stored product pest management practices, use of hooks and spillage during rebagging of grains after quality inspection.
According to the liberalisation policy, PBDAC has to change its activities in the next years to become an institution for giving developmental and agricultural credits to farmers and traders. At the same time, PBDAC has to leave its other activities for the private sector. In this respect, the storage capacities of the PBDAC will be rented to private traders of grains, fertilisers, and animal feed.