Quality of Infrastructure and Connectivity. Maritime transport accounts for 80 per cent of global trade by volume and more than 70 per cent by value, and is one of the main transport modes used by developing countries [UNCTAD 2017]. The MENA region ranks among the regions with the best maritime connectivity at the global level, with an index value of 0.18 (like North America, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia). The region also performs better than East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Thanks to the availability of ports along the African North Coast and the Suez Canal in Egypt, in addition to the liberalization of maritime services in MENA countries, maritime connectivity is fairly advanced in the region. However, despite this high connectivity, trade facilitation remains an issue. Indeed, the procedure to clear imported and exported goods from the ports can be lengthy and costly given the long time to export and to import, which increases their respective costs.

Food insecurity is one the central global challenges facing developing countries, including MENA economies. Eradicating food insecurity is at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (SDG2). It is also one of the preconditions to achieve other SDGs. Against this backdrop, trade policy is found to matter for food security. An open international trade system can enhance the efficiency of global food production, increase food affordability, and improve food utilization from a nutritional perspective. However, open food trade policies must be coupled with domestic policies to ensure equal access to and affordability of food at the household level. They must also be accompanied by an international cooperation framework that puts smallholder farmers at the heart of export promotion interventions, increase their inclusion in the global system, and improve their resilience to global market shocks.

The MENA region is one of the most exposed regions to global trade in food. The region is a net importer of food, especially staple grains. MENA food systems were heavily impacted by supply chain disruptions and price surges following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war on Ukraine. They must ¶{p. 168}also cope with longstanding challenges that threaten their food security, such as growing population, climate change, degrading lands, and water stress.

Despite their heavy dependance on the global food market, MENA countries continue to impose high tariffs (around 14 per cent) and non-tariff measures on imports. Moreover, the administrative costs of trade are extremely high by international standards. Lengthy procedures also represent a threat to time-sensitive food items. Finally, trade agreements at the intra-Arab level and bilateral agreements between MENA countries and the EU either exclude agriculture from liberalization or undermine trade in food through the excessive use of NTMs.

MENA countries can improve their food security outlook with the help of several strategies. The first strategy is to adopt a more open trade policy through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff measures, especially on strategic food imports. Our findings suggest that the most restrictive NTMs are imposed on food items for which MENA countries are net importers, including meat, cereals, malt, and wheat. Restricting imports of strategic foods has adverse effects on the affordability and availability of these items and all related products along the value chain. From a utilization point of view, the affordability of diverse sources of micronutrients due to liberalization could help tackle both malnutrition and overnutrition in the region. Additionally, trade facilitation through the automation and computerization of customs and the streamlining of behind-the-border administrative procedures is also necessary to reduce the time and cost to trade.

The second strategy is to work on the modernization of the agricultural sector to increase productivity and output, and to tackle rural poverty. In this regard, MENA countries should adopt a strategy of agricultural self-reliance, where the revenues generated from the export of high value crops can sustain the imports of food staples [Battat and Lampietti 2015]. Indeed, several MENA countries have significant capacities in the production export of food items such as fruit and vegetables, with a share of food exports in total merchandise exports that is well above the average for low-and middle-income countries. Increasing productivity in agriculture can also be achieved though the liberalization of trade in inputs, including seeds and equipment, and encouraging the use of new technologies in the agricultural sector. ¶{p. 169}

Moreover, governments should invest in research and innovation, and encourage climate smart agriculture [Martens 2017].

The third strategy to achieve food security is the deployment of non-trade related policies to enhance access to food at the national level. As demand for food grows with the growing population in the region, MENA countries should work on enhancing access to food through the expansion of safety nets through targeted food subsidies or conditional cash transfers to protect vulnerable groups from food price fluctuations (ibidem). Another important action is to tackle rural poverty by providing support to farmers against potential losses from local and global shocks [Brooks and Matthews 2015], and by working on integrating smallholders into the food global value chain [Keulertz and Byiringiro 2022].

At the regional level, several actions could be deployed to enhance trade, and consequently, food security. These include the harmonization of standards and regulations to lower trade costs between MENA countries, and between these countries and one of their major exports markets, the EU. Adopting international standards and investing in food safety authorities are also two necessary actions to boost trade in food, given the significance of rejections (especially those related to SPS measures) both at the intra-MENA level and at the EU-MENA level. As mentioned before, boosting high-value food exports could help generate sufficient revenues to ensure imports of other critical food items.

Finally, boosting regional trade requires modern infrastructure that connects MENA countries, especially roads and railroads. The MENA region has one of the worst road and railroad networks worldwide. At the same time, trade in time-sensitive products like food requires swift transport, logistics, and storage facility. Therefore, investing in regional road networks that connect MENA countries should be at the core of any regional trade strategy.