NEAR EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023: Statistics and trends

The 2023 Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition comes at a critical juncture as several shocks have hit the region in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In 2022, international and domestic food and fertilizer prices hit record highs. Moreover, extreme weather events and droughts reduced yields in several wheat-producer countries in the region.

The Overview provides an update on the progress made in the Arab States towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets related to hunger, food security and nutrition, as well as the progress made towards the 2025 global nutrition targets set by the World Health Assembly (WHA).

In 2022, hunger in Arab countries reached its highest value since the year 2000. The number of undernourished people was 59.8 million in 2022, 75.9 percent higher than in 2000. This corresponded to 12.9 percent of the population, well above the world average of 9.2 percent. Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 170.1 million people, 36.6 percent of the population, and 61.0 million people suffered from severe food insecurity, which is a concerning increase of 3.8 million people from the previous year.

Conflict, climate change, economic slowdowns and social unrest are the major drivers of food insecurity in the region. Furthermore, high-income inequality and poverty magnify the negative impact of these drivers. Over two-thirds of the undernourished people in Arab countries were from conflict-hit countries, and almost half of the hungry people live in LDCs. Somalia, Yemen, and the Syrian Arab Republic are suffering the most from hunger.

International commodity prices reached a record level in March 2022 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The region depends heavily on imported foodstuffs, and many countries rely on imported staples from the Black Sea region. In addition, droughts in the region decreased yields in many countries, further increasing the import requirements of the region. Limited land and water endowments and a rapidly growing population put an additional burden on regional agrifood systems. These challenges have made the region highly vulnerable to international commodity markets, including supply side and price shocks. High international food prices have increased food import bills, put pressure on foreign exchange rates, and generated high domestic food inflation eroding purchasing power and leading to a cost of living crisis, especially for the most vulnerable population as they spend a larger part of their income on food.

Food inflation has been a key driver of food insecurity even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Food price inflation threatens not only food security but also good nutrition and health. Since 2017, the cost of a healthy diet in the Arab States has increased annually, making healthy and diverse diets less affordable. Food price inflation also has long-lasting effects on nutritional and health outcomes, especially for children, for example, by increasing the risk of stunting, thus endangering the future itself of the region.

Finally, the Arab region continued to suffer from the triple burden of malnutrition: besides undernutrition, child overweight/adult obesity and micronutrient deficiencies, such as anaemia. For example, the prevalence of overweight among children and the prevalence of anaemia among women were higher than the world average in 2022. Furthermore, obesity among adults was more than double the global average, and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding of infants was below the world average.

Based on the facts presented by the Overview, Arab States are off-track in achieving SDG Target 2.1 – ensuring regular access to sufficient, safe and affordable healthy food for all people – and SDG Target 2.2 – ending all forms of malnutrition, and several WHA targets.

However, despite these alarming figures and trends, there is still a chance to reverse this situation, overcome these crises and challenges, and return to the path towards achieving food and nutrition goals by reorienting our approach towards transforming agrifood systems in regional countries to make them more efficient, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient to multiply and increasing shocks and stresses.

Combatting hunger and poverty, transforming agrifood systems, and making them more resistant to emerging crises requires bold actions in partnership with international organizations, governments, the business sector, civil society and academia. FAO and its partner development organizations are supporting member states in these efforts.

Abdul Hakim Elwaer
Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Dina Saleh
Regional Director for the Near East, North Africa, Central Asia and Europe, International Fund for Agriculture Development

Corinne Fleischer
Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, World Food Programme

Ahmed Al Mandhari
Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, World Health Organization

Adele Khodr
Regional Director of UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa

Rola Dashti
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia