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Book: The political economy of food sovereignty in Arab countries
Jane Harrigan
Publisher: Knowledge World – Kuwait, issue 465, October 2018,
The Tunisian writer and researcher continues Tawfiq Al – MedaniIn the second and final part of his reading of the book "The Political Economy of Food Sovereignty in the Arab States", accompanied by Jane Harrigan, shed light on the consequences of the global food crisis on the Arab world and on ways to address them.
Impact of population growth on food security
Population policy is another area of politics that will play an important role in food security in the region in the future, with one of the highest population growth rates in recent decades, with lower mortality rates and fertility rates which decrease much more slowly. To a demographic shift in which there has been a rapid growth in the number of young people. If jobs can be found for these economically active young people, this situation represents a significant demographic advantage that is reflected in the low dependency ratio, the increase in the economically active population and the increase in savings and investments. Without employment, this demographic gift becomes a curse, with high levels of unemployment associated. Young people have social disorders and more mouths that need food.
Food security is closely linked to the general development strategy of the Arab countries.
"Regardless of that potential demographic donation, it is estimated that by 2050 the population of the Arab region will increase from 390 million to around 655 million, and efforts to curb this population growth should be Iran providing useful lessons in that. sense for countries that still have high fertility rates, such as Yemen, Jordan and Syria, and the International Research Institute on Food Policy and the World Bank Education, especially women's education, he must also be promulgated that he strongly synergizes with food security in the Arab region, as there is a strong relationship between gender inequality and hunger, while improving women's health and nutrition, can have two effects positive (p. 299 of the book).
Given that food security is closely linked to the overall development strategy of Arab states, achieving food security requires a multidimensional approach. Although agriculture and local food production play a role in helping to achieve food security, given the limited agricultural potential of the region, it is important to provide an economic and commercial diversification at national and national level, a diversification of livelihood and access to food markets at the individual level. This is an inclusive growth for the poor, which generates employment and livelihood opportunities for all members of society.
After the Fertile Crescent and the Maghreb region were the peaks of the Roman Empire, the Arab countries became increasingly dependent on food imports.
To enable people to exploit these opportunities it is necessary to improve education and health care, increase gender equality, invest in human capital and physical infrastructure, reallocate resources and create a business-friendly environment. In addition, international organizations like ESCWA suggest that strengthening rural livelihoods, rather than just agriculture, will require better ownership and ownership systems.
After the Fertile Crescent and the Maghreb were the bases for the Roman empire, the Arab countries became increasingly dependent on food imports and from the First World War there was a growing awareness of the geopolitics of food, followed by the & # 39; rise of Arab nationalism that included a desire for greater regional food self-sufficiency Population growth, rising public oil income and low agricultural productivity have led to a growing food gap over the 70 years. This food gap, coupled with the global food crisis of the early 70s and the use of food by the United States as a geopolitical weapon, has prompted many Arab leaders to adopt policies to promote higher levels of food production in a campaign towards self-sufficiency and Saudi Arabia is a typical version of the strategy.
Neoliberalism: trade-based food security in the years 80 and 90
Since the mid-80s, agricultural policy in the Arab region, particularly in non-oil producing countries, has been influenced by the neoliberalism of the Washington consensus and has invited international donor organizations such as the World Bank and the Monetary Fund international, which direct economic reform programs in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria and Morocco. , Remove government interventions in the agricultural sector and move to a commercial approach to food security. However, despite some reforms, the pace and extension of reforms in agricultural sectors in most Arab countries have remained slow and many have continued to protect their food sub-sectors.
Arab countries have "re-evaluated food security strategies in the wake of the global food crises of 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 and the Arab spring," says Harry Herrigan, an Arab expert. Arab governments have become more reluctant to rely on food imports. "Food sovereignty" has become the winning currency, which implies a food security strategy that moves away from the economic dictates of market forces and includes political considerations at national and geopolitical level, giving nation states greater control over their food supplies . Two main approaches to this new approach, in renewing the focus on national food production and land acquisition in other host countries to directly meet food needs (p. 97 of the book).
Arab countries have worked to "re-evaluate food security strategies in the wake of the global food crises of 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 and the events of the Arab spring.
Looking ahead, it seems essential that, for most countries in the region, both food security and food sovereignty require a multifaceted and global approach.
Food sovereignty through the acquisition of fertile agricultural lands
Several factors contributed to the wave of acquisition of fertile agricultural land in the 21st century, including:
– New international trade agreements aimed at the interests of globalized capital (WTO, NAFTA, etc.).
– Open the countries of the southern hemisphere for foreign direct investment.
– Greater global domination of finance and speculative concentration in rich countries.
– High food prices due to drought and floods reduce food produced in a region, particularly to the detriment of those countries that have to import large quantities of food. The global food crisis in 2008 and beyond has scared food-importing countries .
– American and European desire to obtain so-called "green" biofuels as an alternative to conventional liquefied fuels, which revive the maize market (for the production of ethanol) and soybean and palm oil (for the production of biodiesel).
– Exhaustion of underground water reserves in the layers of important agricultural areas, with water pumping higher than the frequency compensated by the rain.
These factors, combined with the instability of farms in many countries and the spread of corruption, have led to a rapid and wide movement of foreign capital to control vast areas of land, particularly in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, through direct purchase or long lease. In some countries, such as Colombia and Brazil, local capital is heavily invested in land purchases and in the development of large agricultural projects.
Beyond 2007 Food sovereignty in the Arab region
Many Arab countries have re-evaluated their food security strategies following the global food crisis that began in 2007 and have adopted an approach based on the concept of food sovereignty, moving away from a trade-based approach to a new emphasis on domestic production and ; land acquisition abroad. The global crisis has once again highlighted the shortcomings of the trade-based approach, with global grain markets dominated by a small number of major exporting countries and many large exporters are limiting exports.
"In conjunction with the Arab Spring, when new regimes took power in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, there was a growing desire to reduce potential shortages, and the era of globalization has also led to a commercial concentration of the global food trade, as well as to geographical focus. In fact, 75% of the global trade in cereals and meat is currently carried out by four large multinational companies, the Big Four or ABCD Archers Midland, BAG BANGE, CARGILL CARGILL and DREYFUS. Global food trade, these companies also effectively control the mother Arab food "(page 78 of the book).
When the new regimes handed over power to countries like Egypt and Tunisia, there was a growing desire to reduce potential shortages
The food security strategies in the Arab world have evolved since the early 70s, with a strong dependence on imports and a growing food gap, followed by attempts at food self-sufficiency in the years 70 and 70. 80 and from major commercial strategies starting from the mid-80s onwards, often guided by the recommendations of the organizations. Finally, the trend towards food sovereignty, with an increase in domestic production and acquisition of land outside the country, after the global food crisis of 2007-2008.
The actions of the UAE government serve as a model for the new approach to food security, with particular attention to local production and the acquisition of the territory abroad, encouraging the citizens of the United Arab Emirates to invest in the 39 and local agriculture and explore the potential for diversification and innovation, as well as providing support to the citizens of the United Arab Emirates investing in agriculture abroad. "Friendly" countries with strong agricultural potential.
Launched in November 2009, Qatar's national food security program aims to increase domestic food production and access to land abroad.
Another example of the new food sovereignty strategy is Qatar: Qatar's national food security program, launched in November 2009, aims to increase domestic food production and access to land abroad, to order to obtain direct food. Chapter VI provides a detailed analysis of the participation of Arab countries. In the land acquisition abroad, Chapter VII provides an assessment of new Arab initiatives towards greater local food production.
The case study of Saudi Arabia on the evolution of these strategies is now being presented, which is an example of the growing food gap in the 70s and of the food self-sufficiency strategy in the 70s. and & # 39; 80. The Kingdom is also at the forefront of recent land acquisition programs to guarantee its food needs, following the global food crisis of 2007-2008. As such, it presents a unique and informative case study.
Saudi Arabia is an "extreme state of water scarcity in the Arab region". Saudi Arabia occupies 80% of the Arabian Peninsula, the second largest Arab land area after Algeria, which has no lakes or rivers. With a very low level of irregular rainfall – in most of the country – with an average annual rainfall of 106.5 millimeters, only 0.6 percent of the land is classified as arable land, so agriculture is almost entirely dependent on Irrigation water.
Saudi Arabia exemplifies "the extreme case of water scarcity in the Arab region
Before the discovery of oil, the arable land was less than 350,000 hectares and in 1961 the population was only 4.2 million. The cattle were bred in collaboration between sedentary and nomadic communities, while the limited arable land and the scarcity of grasslands meant that the nomads raised their cattle according to the nomadic model (p. 79 of the book).
Agriculture and livestock have undergone minor changes up until the 70s, but land acquisition outside the Kingdom has been underway since 2007 and the Saudi government has finally given the green light to a series of investments in June 2012. By 2013, Saudi investors had agreed or were about to make investments to cover 800,000 hectares of land in Africa, which represent about 70% of Saudi global transactions. Africa, in particular the countries of the Nile basin, such as Egypt and Sudan, is an important target for Saudi investors, as most of the world's wild lands are in Africa.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the slow start-up of Saudi investments abroad is due to a series of operational problems, such as the lack of logistics infrastructure in the host country, such as roads and railways, deficient facilities and unqualified services, disintegration of marketing channels and lack of irrigation. Lack of skilled labor, poor technology on farms, vague administrative regulations, corruption of government officials, weak legal systems and, in particular, lack of transparency in the application of investment laws.
The Saudi case study illustrated two key strategies that were part of the historical evolution of the approach to food security in the Arab world. Recent initiative towards food sovereignty, which illustrates the potentially high costs of food self-sufficiency in countries with scarcity of water and the difficulties of replacing this strategy with land ownership in the host countries as a third party. Es.
Also read: The causes of the global food crisis and its repercussions on the Arab world
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