A shift in focus towards industrialization in the mid-twentieth century left Egypt years behind its peers on the agricultural front, Mohamed Youssef writes in a piece for Al Shorouk, which argues that more needs to be done to return the sector to its former glory. In addition to arming farmers with technology that can improve their overall efficiency, measures such as planning and zoning of agricultural land, as well as greater oversight, are crucial, he says. The government also needs to take a more aggressive stance on zoning violations by setting harsher penalties against building on agricultural land, he adds, citing the issue as one of the major obstacles to agricultural development.