Pigeons Grow Fat in Egypt as Poor Storage Means Wasted Wheat
- Grain from local farmers often stored in open-air pits
- Building projects underway to modernize outdated system
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You can tell an Egyptian grain store by the birds circling overhead.
As much as half of the wheat the state buys from its farmers is lost each year to pigeons, rodents and thieves scavenging national stockpiles that are often just stacked in rough jute bags open to the elements, said David Blumberg, whose U.S. company is working with the government to modernize and build the Middle East’s largest grain-storage network.