The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the largest importer of food globally, faces significant challenges in ensuring food security for its population. Many countries in the region are highly vulnerable to food insecurity due to a combination of factors. Rising global food prices, political instability, ongoing conflicts, water scarcity, and inadequate environmental policies have exacerbated the growing food crisis across the region.
In response to these pressing issues, the Hollings Center convened a dialogue meeting in 2017 titled “The Food Security Factor: Stability, Governance, and Development Choices.” This meeting aimed to address the root causes and far-reaching effects of food insecurity in the MENA region. Experts and stakeholders gathered to explore potential solutions to this complex problem, emphasizing the need for coordinated efforts in governance, development, and environmental management.
Continuing this critical conversation, Michael Carroll recently engaged with Turki Faisal Al Rasheed and Andy Fisher to discuss the evolving challenges to food security in the region. Their discussion focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the escalating climate crisis have further strained food systems in the MENA region. These recent developments have intensified existing vulnerabilities, highlighting the urgent need for innovative, sustainable approaches to food production, distribution, and policy-making. By building on the insights from the 2017 dialogue Al Rasheed and Fisher explore how the region can navigate these challenges to secure a stable and sustainable food future.
Dr. Turki Al Rasheed is a businessman, author, academic, and the founder and CEO of Golden Grass, Inc., an agriculture and contracting company based in Saudi Arabia. He is an Adjunct Professor at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems engineering, University of Arizona .Dr. Al Rasheed is the author of more than half a dozen books. His most recent publication is Public Governance and Strategic Management Capabilities: Public Governance in the Gulf States.
Andy Fisher is the author of Big Hunger, a book about the ‘hunger industrial complex’, published by MIT Press in 2017. He co-founded and led the primary American food systems alliance, the Community Food Security Coalition, and he is currently based in Oregon, United States.
