The issue of food security in the GCC countries has become alarming with the rapid growth in global population, harsh climatic changes and natural disasters that have affected food-exporting countries — especially those in East Asia.
All these factors together led to raising average food prices by 30-40 percent, amid expectations that prices will continue to increase at record levels over the next five years.
If these challenges are still a distant reality for GCC countries, this does not mean the Gulf region is immune against their effects. The picture of any impact on the Gulf region can be seen clearly and strongly through food imports.
The GCC countries export about 70 percent — 80 percent to secure its food needs, and this figure rises to be around 100 percent with the export of basic food commodities for traditional Gulf daily dishes.
Annually, food imports increase in the GCC region proportionally with the population increase, especially that the recorded rise in the Gulf is three percent at the global level, while the average population growth in the world is only 1 percent.
This has been the case for nearly five to six decades before the decline in the profession of fishing and resorting to import in the wake of the discovery of oil, and reliance on open-imports.
Commenting on this issue, Omar Al-Juraifani, financial and economic analyst, said: "Farmers in the Kingdom sought to grow wheat and barley in the 1980s, but they were discouraged by the high cost of water. The Kingdom, a major importer of barley, usually imports about 7.5 million tons of barley every year to feed livestock, and the production of one ton of barley needs about 1,212 cubic meters of water. Hence, the production of such an amount of barley in Saudi Arabia needs 9.1 billion cubic meters of water — which is a huge amount for countries that suffer from water scarcity, a challenge that cannot be underestimated”.
He added: "It is fair to say that the Gulf nations never stood powerless with regard to ensuring their food security, as they sought to encourage investment in the agriculture sector beyond the Gulf region, and then re-export the production.
This approach helps the GCC countries achieve several aspirations apart from food security — the most important of which is the recruitment of huge manpower and the opening of cross-cutting areas for investment, especially in Egypt, Sudan, Indonesia, among other countries.”
The approach will also pave the way for investors to enter this area. Yet, the GCC countries were faced by the challenges of unstable political situation in these places, which needs a comprehensive reassessment of the overall topic in the light of the recurrence of such challenges in the region.
Al-Juraifani said the GCC countries must benefit from massive oil revenues and high budget surpluses by allocating a portion of these revenues for seawater desalination research and the development of agricultural techniques by making use of the latest technologies in a manner that helps preserve and save water.
Here it is vital to refer to the success of the new experience spearheaded by the UAE in farming. With less water, agriculture still in the process of support and development.
Al-Juraifani believes that there are other solutions to deal with various challenges facing food security in the Gulf region, represented in keeping reserve food stocks of large quantities which would help stabilize prices and halt the effect of reliance on the volatility of global food markets that continue to rise remarkably.
Another important thing is to activate and develop strategic plans for food security in the Gulf region, which can be done by entering into agreements with exporting countries such as Africa, Europe and East Asia, and choose the politically stable ones, to invest in agricultural infrastructure in these countries.
Under these agreements, the GCC countries can cultivate large areas, which will be of significant benefit to the Gulf States and pave the way for stabilizing food prices on the one hand, and reducing inflation on the other.
Al-Juraifani is a financial adviser for leading investment projects in the GCC.
