Textile sector reflects Egypt’s decline

Egypt’s textile factories were already suffering when former President Hosni Mubarak was in power. Then hundreds closed.

Now the situation is much worse and the number of factories shutting down is rising fast. Since the revolution, many cotton farmers have turned to other crops.

So factories are importing raw materials from India and Pakistan. And the government has imposed a tariff on imports.

Across Egypt about 30,000 textile workers have lost their job over the last two years.

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports from Mahallah, Egypt.