UN report warns of deteriorating food security in Arab region due to global crises

Prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Middle East and North Africa Regional Food Security and Nutrition Review 2022: Trade for food security and nutrition examines the state of regional food security, providing analysis and recommendations for mitigation.

The report shows that an estimated 53.9 million people were severely food insecure in the Arab region in 2021, up 55 percent from 2010. This is also 5 million more than the previous year. The report also warns that moderate or severe food insecurity also continues to rise, affecting an estimated 154.3 million people in 2021, an increase of 11.6 million from the previous year.

In addition, it says that more than half of the Arab population, or 162.7 million people, could not afford a healthy diet in 2020.  

The Arab region continues to suffer from multiple forms of malnutrition. While the prevalence of stunting is 20.5 percent and affects one in every five children under the age of 5, regional wasting rates are 7.8 percent higher than the global average. The prevalence of overweight among children under 5 years of age has been steadily increasing since 2000 and reached 10.7% in 2020.

In addition, the report highlights that the latest available estimates indicate that 28.8% of the adult population (18 years and older) in the Arab region were obese, more than double the global average.

While the Arab region has already moved away from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with zero hunger and nutrition, the pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis have exacerbated the situation, causing disruptions in supply chains and driving up the prices of grains, fertilizers and energy. As the region relies heavily on food imports to meet its food security needs, these crises have disproportionately affected Arab countries and exacerbated food insecurity and malnutrition in the region.

In addition to these global events, climate change, conflict and structural issues such as poverty and inequality are exacerbating the burden of achieving food security and improved nutrition in the region. Thus, the UN partners concluded that by 2030 the Arab region is unlikely to achieve zero hunger.

The Review highlights that trade is an important driver of all four dimensions of food security and nutrition (availability, access, use and stability) by increasing the quantity and variety of food and reducing food prices for net food importing countries. However, in most countries in the region, trade is not included in food security policies; thus, relevant policies need to be redesigned accordingly, and agri-food systems in the area need to be transformed to be more efficient, inclusive and sustainable.

The report recommends that policymakers focus on policies that facilitate food trade, such as reducing trade barriers, creating new free trade areas, promoting digital technologies, reducing non-tariff barriers, harmonizing regulatory practices, strengthening governance, and promoting cooperation and coherence. between countries and the world community.

International trade is not only vital to food availability, but also plays an important role in improving technology through the dissemination of knowledge, which can increase productivity, improve employment opportunities and raise incomes, the report highlights.

The Review also calls on Arab countries to take advantage of intra-regional trade and rely more on each other's capacities, as regional trade helps to reduce food shortages during normal agricultural production cycles and provides an important mechanism to address product shortages or supply chain disruptions caused by adverse and unforeseen circumstances.