A path to end hunger, malnutrition in Arab world

In 2023, the Arab countries faced a significant escalation in hunger and malnutrition. A staggering 14 per cent of the population, equivalent to 66.1 million people, suffered hunger. 

Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 39.4 per cent of the Arab population (186.5 million individuals), with 15.4 per cent (72.7 million people) facing severe food insecurity. These figures represent a stark increase from the previous year. 

Tragically, food security and nutrition indicators are projected to deteriorate further due to ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon and Syria, and persistent droughts across many parts of the region. 

Issues such as wasting, overweight among children and obesity among adults also remained pervasive. This dire situation is compounded by the soaring cost of a healthy diet, which nearly one-third of the population could not afford in 2022.

The rising prevalence of undernourishment and malnutrition underscores the intensification of major drivers of food insecurity in the region, such as conflict, climate extremes, economic slowdowns and increasing inequalities. These factors, occurring more frequently and simultaneously, have led to record-high numbers of food-insecure individuals. The region is alarmingly distant from achieving the SDG 2 goal of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

To address this crisis, a comprehensive transformation of agrifood systems is imperative. Such a transformation must improve food security and nutrition, promote livelihoods and protect the planet. Better-targeted and increased financing are critical aspects of this transformation.

The 2024 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in the Near East and North Africa highlights the urgent need to better utilize existing public resources and deploy additional funding to improve food security and nutrition and transform agrifood systems. 

Such financing is also crucial for supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement adopted at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015. Repurposed public support and additional financing flows are key drivers of this transformation, spreading positive impacts throughout agrifood, socioeconomic, and environmental systems. 

The report also identifies innovative financial instruments that can help close the funding gap in the region. 

The recent UN report, highlights that in 2021, the broader agriculture sector in Arab countries received $28.4 billion in financing, primarily through bank credit, government expenditure and development financing. However, Arab agrifood systems need to target existing financial resources better to achieve the much-needed transformation. 

Repurposing existing support measures is essential to effectively serve agrifood systems transformation, enabling the consumption of more nutritious foods and safeguarding natural resources. While repurposing public support is crucial, it is insufficient on its own. 

Public or philanthropic resources can also catalyse additional private investment flows to agrifood systems through innovative financing mechanisms, which is critical to meet the additional financial requirements for agrifood systems transformation. 

Innovative financing mechanisms, such as capital guarantees, results-based financing, climate financing, debt swaps, advanced market commitments and innovation incubators, can contribute to closing the financing gap.

These approaches must be tailored to countries’ ability to access financing and align stakeholder objectives to ensure agrifood systems’ well-being is not compromised. 

Regulatory environments must be conducive to attracting capital to innovative financing vehicles, which might necessitate policy improvements, such as addressing existing regulatory gaps, aligning with international standards, and accommodating new financing schemes.

Embracing these innovative approaches will help unlock additional financial resources that are highly needed to build resilient, sustainable, and inclusive agrifood systems in the Arab region. It calls for a coordinated, collective and collaborative effort that can be facilitated by partners such as FAO. 

The recommendations of the 2024 NENA Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition align with the FAO four betters’ framework, better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, ensuring a comprehensive strategy to combat hunger and malnutrition, realise resilient livelihoods and safeguard a sustainable future for the Near East and North Africa region.

Abdulhakim Elwaer is FAO Assistant-Director General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa