São Paulo – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced this Thursday that lack of water is one of the most pressing issues as pertains to food security in the Middle East and North Africa. According to the UN agency, per capita fresh water availability in the region was down by two thirds over a 40-year period, and may decline by an additional 50% by 2050.
According to the FAO, chronic malnutrition plagues 11.2% of the region’s population, which grows at an average of 2% a year, twice as much as the global rate. Farming consumes over 85% of water resources in the region, and this scenario tends to worsen as the population grows.
Agriculture is important not only from the food perspective, but also economically. According to a communiqué, the FAO’s regional representative to the Middle East and North Africa, Abdessalam Ould Ahmed, said agriculture grosses US$ 95 billion to the region’s economies.
These issues will be discussed at the 32nd FAO Regional Conference for the Near East, due from February 24th to 28th in Rome, where the FAO headquarters are located. The theme of the meeting is For a resilient, food-secure region.
The matters under discussion will include food losses and residue production throughout the production chain, increasing gender equality, and policies for improving agriculture and rural development.
The agenda also includes the Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity in the Near East, designed by the FAO to create sustainable solutions to the issue. According to the agency, a pilot project was launched last year in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia and Yemen, aiming to assess water availability and the potential for agricultural production in these countries.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
