Multi-pronged GCC strategy needed

Abu Dhabi: Food security is an important geopolitical consideration for GCC states faced with a rising demand for food in the face of low production rates and vast imports, experts said during the closing session of the 17th annual conference on Water and Food Security.

The dependency of Arab countries on food imports is expected to increase, Nadim Khoury, deputy executive secretary at the UN-Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), told Gulf News.

Khoury said: "Moreover, climate change is expected to affect the region more than any other region in the world. To meet their food needs, Gulf countries have to rely on international markets, which make them vulnerable to the vagaries of global food production, trade policies and commodity prices.

"This is exemplified by the food crisis of 2007/2008, which led Arab Gulf countries to adopt strategies that include building up national strategic food reserves, scaling up of subsidies, and acquiring land abroad for agricultural investments through bilateral deals.

"These measures may have some drawbacks in the longer term, [for example] prices remaining volatile, socio-economic disturbances impacting land deals, trade being affected by international events or conflicts.

"What is needed is a multi-pronged GCC-wide comprehensive food security strategy while integrating them in a region-wide approach."

Raed Safadi, deputy director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), told Gulf News that food price volatility trends in agriculture and food markets and the determinants of recent commodity price spikes should be tackled properly through the concerted efforts of the 154 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).