Salah Alawad

1. Food Security Situations in the
Arab World
Dr Salah M Elawad
Arab Organization for
Agricultural Development

2.  Arab food security is
linked to a set of variables
that affect its various axes
in Arab countries:
 Economic developments
 Social.
 Political.
 Natural resources
developments.
 International and regional
trade environment.
 food supply chains.

3. The climate change effects on food security in Arab region:
1. Food availability
2. Food accessibility
3. Food utilization
The value of intra-Arab agricultural trade accounted for about (11.6%)
and (11.5%) of the total value of Arab agricultural trade in 2019 and 2020
respectively. It is expected to stabilize at the same level as in 2021.

4. Food availability index is calculated based on specific
indicators: adequacy of food supply, expenditure on
agricultural research and development , agricultural
infrastructure, volatility of agricultural production and the
risks of political instability.

7. Most Arab countries apply support policies to enable access
to food, enhance the purchasing power of citizens, and
mitigate fluctuations in global prices of food commodities
Programmes implemented in the Arab countries to enable
access to food included many interventions, including direct
support and empowerment through development of farm and
food systems.
 in Tunisia, a project for the protection and rehabilitation of
degraded soils and a program for the management of
natural resources in the regions are being implemented in
fragile areas.

8.  In Yemen, interventions have included social safety nets
and food assistance.
 In Iraq, social protection programmes have been
implemented.
 In Lebanon, programmes included social safety nets, the
National Programme to target the poorest families, food
assistance and special programmes for food security.
 in Sudan programmes covered social safety nets, the
Thammarat programme to support Sudan's population,
and food assistance.

9.  the Arab Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy
(2020-2030) which has been harmonized with the SDGs
2030.
 Initiative to accelerate the achievement of Arab food
security and designed Sustainable food Security
Program 2023-2030.
 The value and quantity of the food gap in the Arab region
is mainly affected by global developments in the
production, prices and trade of food commodities, and
by foreign trade policies of food commodities at the
regional and international levels.

10. Despite the increases in the production of many food
commodities between 2020 and 2021, and the decline in the
volume of food imports in the Arab world between these
two years, the value of the gap in major commodities
witnessed an increase of about 13.3 % from 33.4 billion
dollars to about 37.9 billion dollars. This is mainly due to
the rise in world prices for many major food commodities.

11. Share of Food commodity groups in Food gap(billion $)