Few issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are as uncertain in terms of future uncertainty as the future of food and nutrition security. The picture appears to be bleak for the Middle East and North Africa: The region faces one of the highest population growth rates in the world; above average youth unemployment rates; limited availability of arable land, of which 70% is degraded; increasing water stress with several countries facing an all-out water crisis in the coming years; and adverse effects of climate change, which promises to make the region drier and hotter. No world region is more dependent on the global food markets for imports than MENA, leaving all countries very insecure in the years and decades to come. The Arab world may be reaching a tipping point for a perfect storm.
Moving beyond old paradigms
Food self-sufficiency features heavily in the discussion of food and nutrition security around the region. The idea behind it is appealing, that technology can solve food insecurity by delivering the improved seeds and other inputs needed to grow more staple commodities such as wheat and sugar in the places where they are consumed. However, these ideas often fail to take nutritional matters into account. Wheat, oil, sugar may fill peoples’ stomachs; it doesn’t automatically make populations healthier. On the contrary, parts of the MENA region already suffer from among the most severe rates of metabolic diseases such as diabetes thanks to its focus on cheap carbohydrates such as wheat and sugar. People may be fed but not all that healthily. The MENA region needs to move away from these old paradigms that fail to account for health, environment, and social considerations, and push forward.
The environment, health, and social change require management, and business ideas. In fact, the environment has always been subject to changing management requirements by human beings since the beginning of mankind. Managing societies is the prime task for policymakers. In a nutshell, the epic challenges ahead require adequate and adaptive policy responses to be carried out by a new generation of Arab change-makers. Addressing food and nutrition security is one of the topics in which a young generation of Arab change-makers can make a difference. Despite the odds, the situation can be managed but this requires a different approach to food and nutrition security.
Understanding new concepts and ideas
One of the most pervasive concepts of the past years has been the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. The “nexus” seeks to holistically address water, energy and food needs. It provides new opportunities for countries troubled by water, energy and food challenges by identifying synergies and trade-offs in managing the three systems. For example, irrigating crops may be conducive for food production, yet it may have negative impacts on river flows and hydropower. Ethanol production under irrigation may increase water use and put food security at risk. High-efficiency irrigation systems may save water but result in higher energy use. Different options exist, for example using solar energy for powering agriculture could provide important synergies and tradeoffs. Cutting food waste and post-harvest losses may result in lower natural resources use.
Embracing the opportunity of trade
Instead of growing cheap carbs that produce negative health effects locally, the MENA region needs to understand its opportunities. Indeed, it is heavily trade-dependent on North and South America, Australia and to a lesser extent Russia to meet its demand for food. Yet, being trade-dependent is normal. Most European countries are heavily trade-dependent. Germany for example receives less rainfall than Lebanon or Palestine but is still food-secure because it has embarked upon a strategy to trade freely with neighboring EU countries as well as with the rest of the world. Singapore as one of the smallest countries in the world is the second most food-secure country in the world because it trades itself out of the natural resources predicament. Trading for food is a smart strategy to meet food needs and reduce pressure on domestic natural resources.
Promoting the private sector
On several occasions, Arab governments have conceived of a regional trading house with global impact. Yet, companies such as the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) never took off because they were governed by politics – not by market rules. Promoting private sector engagement and involvement in food and nutrition security holds immense promise for the next generation. Better nutrition is a prime example of where the private sector can earn a profit while benefitting society, for example by promoting the Mediterranean diet through better marketing of its benefits. In particular, the Eastern-Mediterranean diet with its emphasis on legumes, fruits and vegetables offers tremendous opportunities for new entrepreneurs intending to offer better food for a growing population.
An enabling policy environment
Sound agricultural policies aimed at improving subsidies and farmer support, can further drive change. Moving away from consumer-focused support (for example by subsidizing imported or locally grown staples such as wheat) can enable better societal outcomes for both producers and consumers. Making use of the well-established agricultural knowledge of researchers and farmers alike can deliver better production methods such as conservation agriculture, which yield better stewarding of the environment and diversified produce through crop rotation. A new generation of Arab policymakers can tackle this opportunity by devising adapted and innovative subsidy regimes.
Educating a new generation of change-makers
The MS in Food and Nutrition Security at the American University of Beirut is the region’s first graduate-level academic program to holistically educate students on the challenges and opportunities of food and nutrition security in the MENA region and beyond. Its aim is to become a global hub of thinkers devoted to new ideas that will have a lasting impact on societies in the challenging MENA region to make the future of food and nutrition a secure one.
