Therefore, food-related trade policies should be accompanied by a coherent set of domestic policies that ensure equal access to food and adequate nutrition in disadvantaged regions and households, such as reducing food import tariffs, income transfer, and/or targeted food subsidies. Long term policy solutions are also required to tackle structural issues affecting food security. These are different from short term policy responses that are designed to address short-run food spikes [Kerr 2012].

In countries where rural poverty is widespread, engaging smallholders in international trade and facilitating their access to global markets is crucial. At the country level, empowering smallholder farmers by improving their access to information, to inputs, and to finance is necessary to increase their productivity. Clustering in farm associations and cooperatives has also increased smallholder farmers’ participation in global markets [Matthews 2014]. International cooperation in agriculture can also improve food security in several ways. For example, Official ¶{p. 147}Development Assistance through Aid-for-Trade targeting agriculture has proven efficient in improving productive capacities in the agricultural sector. International organizations often carry out micro-level interventions to make agricultural value chains more inclusive, for example by fund training programs for farmers or developing special initiatives to empower women working in agriculture [4] . An increasing number of multinationals is also using the fair-trade certification system to shorten the value chain and work directly with smallholder farmers, which helps them capture a larger share of the price and increase their income. At the supranational level, however, the global framework governing international trade in agriculture must provide more attention to food security and inclusive trade. With increasing standards, a decreasing share of smallholders are engaged in global trade [Maertens and Swinnen 2014], whereas multinational firms – being more capable of overcoming these barriers – increasingly dominate agricultural production and trade.

Since the 1970, the MENA region is a net importer of food including essential grains and meat. On average, while food imports decreased from 19.4 per cent in 1975 of merchandise imports to 11.3 per cent in 2021, its exports significantly decreased from 7.3 per cent to 3.6 per cent over the same period, making this region a net importer. This makes it one of the most exposed and potentially volatile regions to developments in the global food markets.

Since the region has limited potential to increase its food production due to limited water resources and arable lands, its food security will increasingly depend on imports. Figure 1 depicts the food security outlook at the global level. The map shows that MENA countries are among those countries with a moderate risk and stable conditions from a food security perspective. Except for Egypt and Libya, the rest of the MENA region ¶{p. 148}(including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Palestine to, Syria, and Lebanon) witness significant rainfall or vegetation deficit. The food security outlook for Syria and Yemen, both suffering from over a decade of internal political (armed) conflict, is classified as highly risky.

Figure 2 compares food security indicators across MENA countries. Overall, recent FAO estimates suggest that around 32 per cent of the region’s citizens lack access to sufficient and nutritious food [Keulertz and Byiringiro 2022]. While political and/or armed conflicts have severe repercussions on the high prevalence of food insecurity (40 per cent or higher) in Djibouti and Libya, and economic sanctions are likely to take a heavy toll on food security in Iran, high prevalence of moderate and severe food insecurity is also found in relatively politically stable countries, such as Jordan. In the latter, conflicts in neighboring countries and the resulting influx of refugees from Syria added to the pre-existing pressure on food supply. At the same time, Jordan has little potential for agricultural expansion due to limited water availability. In fact, water availability in Jordan is among the lowest in the world, partly due to the transboundary water challenges that involve Israel, Syria, and Lebanon around the Hasbani River and Lake Tiberias [Christoforidou et al. 2022]. Egypt is also likely to face water challenges due to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and in the absence of significant enhancements in sustainable water supply and agricultural expansion (ibid). The prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity affects nearly one third of the population in Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon. The Maghreb region has been witnessing drought and above-average weather temperatures [Mandour 2021], leading to decreasing vegetation. As oil-poor countries, their export revenues are also unlikely to secure sustainable food imports. As for Lebanon, the economy has been suffering from longstanding challenges related to political instability, chronic internal and external deficits, high import dependence, and the concentration of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in the Eastern and Southern parts of the country. Recent shocks including the pandemic and the Beirut Port explosion pushed the country towards a financial and economic collapse, leading to skyrocketing food prices and endangering the livelihood of an increasing proportion of the population.¶{p. 150}