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A child and farmer Am Tayeb stand in a field of extra long staple "Giza 88" cotton in Shubra Kheit in El Beheira Governorate, north of Cairo, Egypt, July 29, 2015. After the agriculture ministry banned cotton imports to help local producers, the cabinet abruptly vetoed the idea - the latest in a series of economic policy U-turns and delays under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.  Such schizophrenic decision-making is also a symptom of wider policy problems affecting Egypt, which is struggling to re-energise i

Why Egypt's 'white gold' production is now in decline

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A child and farmer Am Tayeb stand in a field of extra long staple "Giza 88" cotton in Shubra Kheit in El Beheira Governorate, north of Cairo, Egypt, July 29, 2015. After the agriculture ministry banned cotton imports to help local producers, the cabinet abruptly vetoed the idea - the latest in a series of economic policy U-turns and delays under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.  Such schizophrenic decision-making is also a symptom of wider policy problems affecting Egypt, which is struggling to re-energise i

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