(Photo by Hasan A. Almoosawi via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)
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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), known for its large deserts and dry climates, have faced a difficult situation regarding food security. Issues range from increasing climates to dramatic groundwater use for agriculture and other industries to conflicts restricting trade and aid to areas that need food support. This region has one of the largest non-arable areas, which limits the possibility of a self-sufficient ability to grow enough food in one’s country, raising many food products in one country. It also means that there are many competing interests in land use. For example, exporting oil helps bring income and use limited resources like land and water. Many local, national, and international improvements can boost the region’s agriculture sustainability and food availability.
Regional Developments and Responses
Current measures to limit skyrocketing prices of wheat and other foods imported to the MENA region due to current conflicts reducing incoming food means a need for more self-sufficient agriculture in the area. As many of these countries have dictator-led governments or ones with poor tracks on freedoms, civil society organizations have done a lot in leading reform for farmers and other actors to sustain local farms. With a lack of trust and transparency in government organizations, these civil society organizations often need to do more to stabilize countries. In addition, institutions are researching and promoting strategies to prevent desertification.
Desertification is an extreme issue in the MENA region as it means that more and more habitable land suitable for farming becomes more desert-like. It is a concern because good soil is lost, affecting the habitability of the larger region and the sustainability of agriculture and ranching. Desertification solutions include better land management policies, increasing soil fertility, and “planting more trees.” Doing so prevents a more significant departure from rural communities to urban areas. As those rural livelihoods become unlikely, more people move to cities and elsewhere, causing demand for urban resources and jobs and more dependency on imported foods. Finally, regional conflicts have caused more emissions and pollution, causing climate change and environmental damage.
Conflict and Aid
Current conflicts in the Middle East and Europe have meant that trade and stability threaten neighbouring countries in the way that people will flee conflict in search of sustainable and stable lives elsewhere. There are limitations to how much aid and grain get shipped to the Middle East due to the war in Ukraine and the blockades throughout the Suez Canal and Palestine. Blockading basic materials, including food, makes people’s situations more desperate and weakens countries’ stability. In addition, the conflict in Gaza could lead to more regional conflict and economic uncertainty. As reported by the IMF, practical diplomacy and economic policy can maintain stability in the MENA region.
Also, inconsistent prices of oil and other state enterprise products can affect state aid that lowers costs for food in countries that import agricultural products to meet demands. While important to providing accessible food, it means there is vulnerability to protest and unrest when food prices increase. To some extent, many governments depend on loans from the IMF and World Bank that demand strict budget cuts that would soften the prices of essential products in exchange for debt relief or additional aid. Additionally, there is less possibility for critical agricultural technologies to get to farmers when there are blockages in trade or reduced economic stability. These technologies, like drip irrigation, can significantly reduce water wasted on growing crops. As such, government policies towards aid and development are hugely consequential to the region’s stability for all those who depend on access to affordable food.
MENA Is a Middle Ground Between Regions
The Middle East and North Africa are facing climate change and conflict. Climate change, desertification, and international conflicts significantly impact the region and its people, and collectively, their impact will only increase with time. New international approaches to migration in MENA and more aid for agriculture and refugee relief would help with limited natural resources.
Another vital aspect of desertification in the MENA region is its position as an in-between point for African countries in turmoil or having poor economic situations that force people to flee these countries, often to Europe. There needs to be more government stability in some countries in MENA, such as Libya and Tunisia, and more international support for creating stable situations for refugees in the region. This situation means that the lack of food stability could create local pressure on governments to turn away refugees instead of granting them a stay or the possibility of travelling to Europe safely.
The international community should realize the vulnerability of this situation given that the region is a crossroads for many people moving to better opportunities with limited resources available to the people and the governments based there. For example, the EU has prioritized spending money to keep refugees on the other side of the Mediterranean instead of in aid to bring local assistance to those areas where people are leaving. Long-term agricultural aid and support against desertification would greatly assist the region’s stability as climate change forces people to migrate to new homes.
Edited by Gabrielle Andrychuk
