The Evolution of Food Security Strategies in the Arab World

Many accounts of the agricultural potential of the Arab world and assessments of the region’s food security begin by reminding the reader that this was the region where 10 millennia ago farming first began and where most of the important domesticated crop and animal species originated — wheat, barley lentils, chickpeas, olives, grapes, goats, and sheep. In addition, the region is a major producer of oil and phosphorous, key inputs to modern food production. Historically Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq were known as the countries of the Fertile Crescent, and other countries around the Nile Delta were also major food producers. Yet, paradoxically, the region now imports around 50 per cent of its food requirements (Zurayk 2012, p. 18). Previously fertile countries, especially those benefiting from the Nile and its delta, such as Egypt and Sudan, now face problems in terms of food production.1