The Food Security Status of Arab Countries

Abstract

The Arab states are often viewed as one of the most potentially food insecure regions in the world (Breisinger et al. 2010, 201 la, 2012; Wilson and Bruins 2005; World Bank 2009a). This view is based on the fact that they have the largest food deficit of any region in the world, as indicated by cereal imports as a proportion of consumption. Most Arab countries import around 25–50 per cent of their food requirements, with around 35 per cent of daily calories in the region coming from wheat alone. The region’s cereal imports as a percentage of total consumption is between 40 and 50 per cent and in some countries, such as Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Palestine, reaches 70 per cent (ESCWA 2010, p. 1). Food imports are the largest share of imported products in the region, representing between 11 and 34 per cent of total goods imported by Arab states (Zurayk 2012, p. 21) with the regional food import bill being around 5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (ESCWA 2010, p. 1).