Food shortage in Arab countries is a major economic problem
Regional, Agriculture, 12/29/1997

A number of studies were recently published which showed that the Arab countries are not able to meet their people's food needs without imports. This shortage in food was caused by mismanagement and lack of resources which will force Arab countries to depend on food imports, a circumstance that will worsen the Arab countries' debts which are currently $200 billion.

A study prepared by UNESCO in cooperation with a number of Arab economic agencies said that the Arab countries will have to import more than one third of their food from foreign countries at high cost, increasing Arab debts and affecting other sectors in those countries.

The study put the responsibility for those negative results on Arab economic policies that completely ignored the importance of the agricultural sector. Those policies did not try to modernize the agricultural sector so as to enable it to provide for the needs of the Arab countries.

This negligence is evident from the fact that 80% of arable Arab lands were neglected. The study stated that the main reason for the weakness of that sector is the farmers' migration from villages to big cities as they left their lands to work in other technical professions. The number of city inhabitants will reach between 60% and 70% of the total population by the year 2000.

The study also said that this situation could be improved if agricultural policies are changed and if the agricultural sector is given top priority. This situation could also be changed if desertification was addressed and if modern methods of cultivation were applied. The study also called for removing the disparity between population growth and agricultural development.

In another report prepared by the Arab Labor Organization, it was found that the food crisis in Arab countries is caused by the lack of good planning which will cause increased poverty in the Arab world. It was found that 73 million live under the poverty line in the Arab countries, while more than 10 million Arabs suffer from malnutrition. The unemployment rate in the agricultural sector reached 23%.

Some Arab countries tried to implement development plans to achieve food self sufficiency, but only Saudi Arabia succeeded in this, while Egypt succeeded in filling 50% of its needs for wheat. Egypt managed to provide 5.5 million tons of wheat from its own land toward its total needs which are 11 million tons.

Previous Stories:
  Detailed numbers of Inter-Arab agricultural exports   (12/11/1997)
  Regional livestock workshop in Damascus   (9/15/1997)
  More urbanization will lead to more poverty   (8/13/1997)

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