The Middle East faces significant challenges in securing food supplies, including a severe lack of funding for agricultural projects and being home to eight of the ten driest countries globally. These issues are compounded by ongoing conflicts and wars that disrupt key maritime routes in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Black Sea, driving up food prices both regionally and globally.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that $500 million annually is required to support agricultural projects and sustain food production systems in 22 countries across the region. FAO Assistant Director-General Abdul Hakim Elwaer shared these figures during an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat at the COP16 conference held in Riyadh.
Elwaer noted that while FAO is involved in numerous projects across the Middle East, these efforts are mostly on a “pilot and limited scale.” Scaling up these initiatives will require direct financial investments, particularly to support small-scale farmers, ensuring the continuation of agricultural production.
Rising Food Prices
Conflicts and wars have significantly driven up food prices worldwide. The Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted shipping routes in the Black Sea, while conflicts in the Middle East have affected navigation in the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Gulf of Aden. These disruptions have limited many countries’ ability to maintain food security, Elwaer explained.
“These conflicts cast a shadow over the entire region,” Elwaer stated, noting that the effects are not confined to war zones but extend across neighboring countries.
Water Scarcity
In addition to conflict, climate change is a major threat to food security in the Middle East and North Africa. Both short- and long-term climate effects are severely undermining the region’s ability to produce food sustainably.
The FAO official highlighted that eight of the world’s ten most water-scarce countries are located in the Arab region, where the average per capita water availability is only one-tenth of the global average. In some countries, such as Jordan, this figure is even lower.
Countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as Egypt and Jordan, are grappling with severe water shortages and are turning to innovative solutions like seawater desalination. Similarly, North African nations, including Libya and Tunisia, are experiencing high levels of water scarcity, while Algeria remains within the water-stressed zone.
Natural and Human-Made Challenges
Agriculture in the Middle East faces a dual challenge of natural and human-induced issues. On the natural side, climate change, water scarcity, urbanization, and population growth are all critical factors reducing agricultural productivity.
Elwaer emphasized that climate change, in particular, poses a grave threat to food security. One key impact is rising sea levels, which lead to saltwater intrusion into fertile coastal farmland, rendering it less productive for agriculture.
On the human side, financial constraints and limited investment in the agricultural sector are major hurdles to boosting production.
Agricultural Pests and Other Threats
Elwaer also highlighted other challenges to food security in the region, such as rising temperatures due to climate change and agricultural pests. He pointed to locust infestations, which are exacerbated by droughts and heat waves, as well as other pests like the fall armyworm.
Additionally, sand and desert storms are disrupting agricultural output by reducing the productivity of rangelands for livestock and damaging crops. These natural phenomena, alongside the broader effects of climate change, present a significant and ongoing challenge to sustainable food production in the Middle East and North Africa, the FAO official underlined.
