Al Ahram Weekly | 15-21 January 2009
Nader Noureddine Mohamed* argues that food shortages should take centre-stage at the upcoming Arab Economic Summit
Not too long ago, thousands of Arabs were engaged in protesting against rising food prices. In April, Arab agriculture ministers met in Riyadh to discuss the crisis that was taking the world by storm at the time: skyrocketing food prices. Several resolutions were made and a further meeting in December 2008 was promised. But as soon as prices of food and agricultural products went tumbling down in late 2008, everyone conveniently forgot about the original problem. No one wants to waste time on a problem that has gone away.
But that is exactly where the trouble is. Food may be cheap today, but food scarcity may well be just around the corner. What was true in April still rings true today.
The resolutions made at the last meeting of the Arab agriculture ministers were astute as they are indispensable. They intended to launch an initiative for an emergency Arab programme for regional food security, with the aim of increasing and stabilising the production of food in the Arab world especially grain, oil-producing seeds and sugar.
The ministers also decided to urge government-owned and private companies, as well as Arab financiers and industrialists, to invest in common agricultural projects in qualified countries as part of the emergency programme, and to call for an urgent meeting of the agricultural ministers before the end of 2008.
Moreover, the Riyadh meeting urged the Arab League Secretariat-General to give the issue of Arab food security a top billing at the development, social, and economic summit slated for Kuwait in mid- January 2009. In addition, it promised to mobilise resources and launch national and regional programmes in keeping with the objectives of the Arab agricultural sustainable development strategy. Arab, regional and international financial agencies will all be encouraged to provide all required support for this effort. And they were to prepare a working plan, with a clear timetable to coordinate agricultural policy in Arab country and accelerate the formulation of an Arab common agricultural policy in the medium term -- this being one of the main strategic objectives of Arab sustainable agricultural development.
Attesting to the enduring validity of these recommendations, I call on the Arab Economic Summit to keep Arab food security at the top of its agenda. The agriculture sector can use the backing of our immense financial revenues, and there is no shortage of agricultural resources in Arab countries, or of Arab scientists for that matter.
For starters, we should aim at achieving food security and self-sufficiency. Later on, we may be able to increase the production of food in Arab and African countries in preparation for the post-oil world.
The day is nearing when the world will rely on agricultural products as a renewable energy source. One hopes that we too may be able to engage in such pursuits. Otherwise, we will become dependent on importing both food and fuel in less than 50 years. At which point we simply will not have the money, the water, the agricultural land, or the skilled labour -- for agricultural labour may have fled from unprofitable unemployment to jobs in trade and polluting industries.
The least we can do is act on our urgent strategic plans and produce our own food before another Western leader comes up and say, as the German chancellor once did, that it is not the fault of the West that some people eat twice as much as they produce. We cannot wait for the day when we're asked to eat once a day or keep milk from our children. The future belongs to those who produce their own food.
Arab food security and agriculture deserve the same attention we give to the industry, banks, and commerce as they struggle to overcome the current recession. We need to support strategic crops and shield our farmers against price fluctuations. Public and private investment in agriculture should be a top priority for the upcoming summit.
* The writer is a professor of agricultural resources at Cairo University.
Nader Noureddine Mohamed* argues that food shortages should take centre-stage at the upcoming Arab Economic Summit
Not too long ago, thousands of Arabs were engaged in protesting against rising food prices. In April, Arab agriculture ministers met in Riyadh to discuss the crisis that was taking the world by storm at the time: skyrocketing food prices. Several resolutions were made and a further meeting in December 2008 was promised. But as soon as prices of food and agricultural products went tumbling down in late 2008, everyone conveniently forgot about the original problem. No one wants to waste time on a problem that has gone away.
But that is exactly where the trouble is. Food may be cheap today, but food scarcity may well be just around the corner. What was true in April still rings true today.
The resolutions made at the last meeting of the Arab agriculture ministers were astute as they are indispensable. They intended to launch an initiative for an emergency Arab programme for regional food security, with the aim of increasing and stabilising the production of food in the Arab world especially grain, oil-producing seeds and sugar.
The ministers also decided to urge government-owned and private companies, as well as Arab financiers and industrialists, to invest in common agricultural projects in qualified countries as part of the emergency programme, and to call for an urgent meeting of the agricultural ministers before the end of 2008.
Moreover, the Riyadh meeting urged the Arab League Secretariat-General to give the issue of Arab food security a top billing at the development, social, and economic summit slated for Kuwait in mid- January 2009. In addition, it promised to mobilise resources and launch national and regional programmes in keeping with the objectives of the Arab agricultural sustainable development strategy. Arab, regional and international financial agencies will all be encouraged to provide all required support for this effort. And they were to prepare a working plan, with a clear timetable to coordinate agricultural policy in Arab country and accelerate the formulation of an Arab common agricultural policy in the medium term -- this being one of the main strategic objectives of Arab sustainable agricultural development.
Attesting to the enduring validity of these recommendations, I call on the Arab Economic Summit to keep Arab food security at the top of its agenda. The agriculture sector can use the backing of our immense financial revenues, and there is no shortage of agricultural resources in Arab countries, or of Arab scientists for that matter.
For starters, we should aim at achieving food security and self-sufficiency. Later on, we may be able to increase the production of food in Arab and African countries in preparation for the post-oil world.
The day is nearing when the world will rely on agricultural products as a renewable energy source. One hopes that we too may be able to engage in such pursuits. Otherwise, we will become dependent on importing both food and fuel in less than 50 years. At which point we simply will not have the money, the water, the agricultural land, or the skilled labour -- for agricultural labour may have fled from unprofitable unemployment to jobs in trade and polluting industries.
The least we can do is act on our urgent strategic plans and produce our own food before another Western leader comes up and say, as the German chancellor once did, that it is not the fault of the West that some people eat twice as much as they produce. We cannot wait for the day when we're asked to eat once a day or keep milk from our children. The future belongs to those who produce their own food.
Arab food security and agriculture deserve the same attention we give to the industry, banks, and commerce as they struggle to overcome the current recession. We need to support strategic crops and shield our farmers against price fluctuations. Public and private investment in agriculture should be a top priority for the upcoming summit.
* The writer is a professor of agricultural resources at Cairo University.
