The global food crisis triggered by the fighting in Ukraine is affecting the Middle East in varying ways. Countries such as Lebanon and Yemen, which were experiencing economic instability and conflict before the war began, have been hit hardest. Egypt, which relies heavily on wheat and other grains from Ukraine and Russia, is struggling to manage the crisis and keep food supplies stable.
On the other hand, the Arab Gulf region and Israel have so far weathered this storm quite well. The food security approach of these countries holds the keys to solving global food challenges, which will only deepen after the Ukraine crisis is resolved.
The Middle East is notorious for the difficulty of growing food. That’s why food security has been a source of longstanding political discontent – and was one of the main causes of the Arab Spring protests of 2011. From lack of water supplies to harsh weather regimes, farming on a large scale is nearly impossible using traditional farming methods.
This has led many countries to tackle the food issue with remarkably innovative technologies. Israel was the first to use technology to alleviate the problem of water scarcity. By developing advanced irrigation techniques and desalination efforts, the Israelites reached a level of water self-sufficiency that enabled large-scale farming.
Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates have had to take similar steps to secure food and water supplies.
The United Arab Emirates is home to the world’s largest reserve of desalinated water, an aquifer in the Liwa Desert that contains 26 billion liters of water and took nearly three years to fill. During emergencies, the reserve can provide up to 100 million liters of water per day. Abu Dhabi alone produces 9% of the world’s total desalination capacity – 4.13 million cubic meters per day.
When it comes to agriculture and food supplies, the Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia have purchased large tracts of land all over the world for food production. In contrast to Egypt’s approach to importing food supplies from Ukraine and Russia, wealthy Gulf states own land in other countries and grow food outside their borders.
Food supply has always been a concern in the region, but efforts to secure food began strongly in 2009 after the global financial crisis. With low oil and gas prices and rising import costs, Gulf governments have been forced to take steps toward self-sufficiency. This led to the purchase of many lands in Africa.
In an ambitious deal from 2015, Abu Dhabi-based Al Dahra Agricultural Company agreed to invest $1 billion in the first phase of a $10 billion agricultural project in Sudan’s fertile Hawad Valley.
Some Gulf countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, are investing in agricultural technology to ensure adequate food supplies, investments that have the added benefit of enhancing local knowledge in the agricultural technology sector. In fact, the next agri-tech startup incubated in Dubai’s FoodTech Valley could end up with a global impact, just as Telsa has made a heartbeat in the electric car market.
If we take a step back, some clues about the future will emerge from how the Gulf region handled the food crisis.
Climate change will force more countries to search for land outside their borders to produce food. The economy is already dictating similar developments.
Despite the vast amount of arable land in the United States, much of the country’s food supply comes from Mexico, where it is cheaper to grow crops. But this solution is a double-edged sword. Last year, when the United States banned the import of avocados from Mexico, where 80% of the avocados consumed in the United States are grown, prices soared to their highest level in 24 years.
While buying land for food may be the future, it is likely to fuel geopolitical issues in certain parts of the world. Tensions are bound to arise as wealthier countries cultivate land in developing countries for food to be consumed abroad.
Consider how a country rich in minerals like the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still pitifully underdeveloped even though the richer countries and companies are making millions by extracting the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today, cobalt and lithium (for use in electric cars and smartphones) are mined. Tomorrow it will be food production.
The Gulf region has shown that a food farming export model can serve to address the food security of a small but affluent community. But we need to consider what the effects will be when the practice occurs on a large scale.
The Ukraine crisis is just a prelude to a much deeper problem of food production (as well as supply chain logistics) that climate change will affect the global economy. As the Gulf continues to build its agricultural technology sector and knowledge economy, there is an opportunity for other countries to share their experiences in growing food as well.
In the coming years, the international community will need new guidelines for this new phase of food security. There are few countries better to lead these efforts than those in the Middle East.
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