Collective action is needed to address the food security challenge in the Near East and North Africa Region (NENA). The State of Food Insecurity 2014 report that has just been released by the three UN Rome-based agencies, shows that, in contrast with the positive trend in global hunger reduction, the NENA region has seen both the number and prevalence of undernourishment increase over the last decade. The region as a whole will not therefore achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1.c target of halving the prevalence of hunger by 2015. At the recent FAO Regional Conference for NENA countries, ministers of agriculture throughout the region endorsed a comprehensive framework on food and nutrition security that sheds light on the complexity of the food security challenge in the region and proposes policy options that build on the most recent work of FAO and its partners.
Conflicts and civil insecurity are the main driving forces behind the recent deterioration of the food security situation in the region. “Armed conflicts are enemies of food security’ stated the World Food Summit 12 years ago. NENA has become the most conflict-prone region in the world. Out of the 22 countries composing the League of Arab States, ten have witnessed at least one form of conflict - war, civil unrest, terrorism - over the recent years. The Syria crisis has already become the largest humanitarian crisis facing the world, with more than 6.5 million people internally displaced and 3.2 million refugees in neighbouring countries. Half of the Yemeni population and more than 60% of the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank are in need of food assistance. In Iraq, a rich oil country, more than 20 % of the population are food insecure and the situation is rapidly deteriorating. The food security situation needs also careful monitoring in parts of Sudan and Libya with the ongoing conflicts, and in Tunisia and Egypt where the pressure to reform the food subsidy system and reduce its bill may affect the access of the poor to food.
The food security challenge facing the region is however more structural. It is rooted in the aridity of climate in the region and the acute scarcity of its water resources. The average renewable water resource per capita in the region stands at only one tenth of the world average and the availability of water resources is due to decrease by one third by 2025, due to population growth and climate change.
Countries of the region have significantly invested in, during the last three decades, developing their water resources, improving water supply, irrigation and in storage systems to increase agricultural production. The region has also invested more, relative to any other region, in food subsidies to provide its population access to food. As a result, availability of food has significantly increased and undernourishment rates remained, for many years, among the lowest in the developing world.
These achievements came at the expense of sustainability of natural resources, with over-allocation of water to agriculture, insufficient water demand management and lack of regulation of ground water resources.
Climate change will further exacerbate water scarcity and negatively impact farming systems, leading in some cases to exiting from farming, impoverishment and ultimately migration. More limited availability of water resources in the future will also mean more dependance on food imports. FAO Projections to 2022, point to an increasing dependence of the region to imports for most of the basic foodstuffs, except fruit and vegetables. The growing dependence on food imports means increased vulnerability to increasing and volatile food prices, and, potentially, to the physical access to available global food supplies.
Addressing the dual challenges of natural resource scarcity and conflicts in the region will require actions at global, regional and national levels to build effective and resilient food security and nutrition institutions and systems. It will also require a comprehensive reform of water management as well as increased regional collaboration and exchange of experiences and knowledge on the issues of lagging productivity growth; reducing exposure to market volatility; strengthening social protection of the poor and food insecure; and promoting diversification of healthy diet. The implementation of such a framework and building strong partnerships around it should now be the priority.
Credit: IRIN/Jodi Hilton
