The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are now considering a new food security strategy that is expected to be implemented in the next few months.
The strategy aims to deal with fluctuating international prices and food shortages, which pose a grave threat to many people, especially at a time when several Arab food producing and processing countries are witnessing political unrest and economic destabilisation.
The new strategy includes food storage, food processing and exploiting agricultural land. It also talks about rationalization of water consumption and achieving food self-sufficiency in the Arab region as per population and economic growth in this region.
A study by the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council shows that the new strategy will focus on food security in general and will include other issues, such as achieving food self-sufficiency by utilizing available agricultural lands and water, agricultural lands in abroad; creating ports with storehouses for strategic crops, and getting the private sector and funding agencies involved in food security projects.
A Gulf forum for partnership and investment had earlier recommended the creation of a new alliance with the aim of launching cooperative projects, the establishment of strategic warehouses for food and factories and warehouses for storage.
Some companies from Qatar, the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Oman had already started studying the possibility of carrying out infrastructure projects related to food factories to create a working environment conducive to production in this regard. The companies also started studying the possibility of establishing projects in Oman. The projects include warehouses for storage of grains, slaughterhouses, and ports for export.
The recommendations of the gathering underline the fact that Qatar’s foreign investments in the field of food security, as well as those of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are very large, these countries being the leading Gulf markets in food security.
The recommendations say that investments made for this purpose amount to US$8 billion. The Saudi market is one of the most attractive in the region thanks to its large size and the growth happening in its real estate and industry sectors. The same applies to markets in both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
We witness exceptional developments in the Middle East region, which have affected economic systems in this region. Climatic changes and expected natural disasters also have their toll on agricultural and industrial systems and the economy in general.
Things have not stopped here. Several international organizations have already started reviewing their strategies in relation to food, water and agriculture. These organizations had to suspend some of these strategies until stability returns. Even with this, some simple efforts are still being made to push some production projects that are in first stage.
Political developments in the region have left their major toll on the state of food security in it. This food security is a guarantee of the continuity of societies in this region.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization had revealed that international food prices had dropped 1 percent this month compared with last month thanks to a reduction in the cost of milk and sugar production. The organization also referred to a minor decline in the prices of grains and cooking oil. It said the grains, oil seeds, milk, beef and sugar products index had dropped to 211 points this month compared with 213 points last month.
This decline in some indicators can be followed by hardships for some food industry projects, the thing that will hinder food security in society in the middle of all this unrest.
The fact that food consumption in Arab countries exceeds food production rates in them means that these countries will depend on food imports even more in the future.
Arab countries had imported food to the value of US$23 billion in the year 2000. Grains were on top of imported items in these countries, followed by milks, oils, beef and sugar. The Arab countries combined had produced 153 million tons of food in 2012. This is small compared with the population numbers in these countries.
Statistics expect the Arab countries to spend US$16 billion in 2017. Food eats up the greatest portion in the spending of consumers. In 2012, spending on food reached US$83 billion.
The food economy is at a crossroads as the need for all types of food grows in the light of this population growth. This economy is torn between the need to achieve the aspired food security, which aims at ushering in strategic food reserves, and growing demand on food. Ushering in additional amounts of food has become an urgent matter, especially in the light of all this unrest in the Middle East region. This unrest has also affected agricultural lands and suspended several agricultural, fish and food industry development projects. This has undermined the ability of the region to be self-sufficient.
The Social Sciences magazine, which is released in the United Arab Emirates, described the food problem as an “outstanding problem” with Arab economies. The magazine said the problem includes the food gap and dependence on imports.
It said Arab countries import food to the value of US$20 billion or more every year. It added that Arab exports make up 5 per cent only of the volume of trade between Arab countries and their other trading partners, while agricultural imports make up 16 per cent of this volume of trade. The magazine expected the food gap in the Arab world to jump to 50 per cent by the year 2050, which constitutes a real challenge for Arab governments while Arab populations continue to grow.
Other challenges include the lack of balance among the various production sectors in the Arab countries and the low contribution by the agricultural sector in Arab economies as agricultural lands make up less than 5 per cent of overall lands in the Arab world and between 10 and 20 per cent of Arab workforce can be found in agriculture. There is also weakness in other Arab economic, commercial and service sectors. This weakness has affected agriculture and the production of food, beverages and textiles in the Arab countries in general.
The study recommends a reconsideration of economic perceptions with the aim of boosting growth among Arab countries. It says these countries need to go beyond their narrow understanding of development by achieving full integration among them to solve the food shortage problem and usher in the necessary atmosphere for the development of agricultural lands. It says Arab government need to encourage citizens to create new human concentrations based on agriculture.
