PROJECT SUMMARY
FAO and the EBRD help Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and the West Bank and Gaza to improve market transparency and policies to strengthen food resilience against supply disruptions and price spikes, such as those resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine. These joints efforts are part of a wider initiative aimed at helping the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region to improve its food security.
Context
This EBRD and FAO project in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region aims to address its food security challenges by strengthening market transparency and enhancing policies in response to the overall effects of the war in Ukraine.
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of grains and Ukraine is the fifth largest. Both countries are major exporters of oilseeds and vegetable oils. The SEMED region relies heavily on these food imports for critical food security staples such as grain, which are so fundamental to national food security, they often come under direct state governance and are part of national food subsidy programmes.
Economic modelling of key commodities in each country will provide critical information to strengthen the selected countries’ capacity to make better long-term policy decisions focusing on improved nutrition and supply chain efficiency. It will also build resilience in the face of future shocks, including climate change, shifts in demand, or further conflicts. Enhanced national capacities in evidence-based planning and improved food stockholding capacities will also better support vulnerable populations.
Other project activities focus on reducing risks in supply chains and increasing resilience in production systems, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine which is having an enormous impact on food security globally as well as in the SEMED region.
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ACTIVITIES
Inform agricultural and food policies through country-specific economic modelling of key commodity crops to assess market risks such as changing demand and variable prices. The evidence generated will inform policy responses alongside efforts to build national capacities to conduct forward-looking quantitative analyses.
Develop options to enhance food stockholding for food security by assessing existing storage capacities and options to attract public and private investments and exploring policy and investment options to leverage private sector engagement in food storage, distribution, and trading.
Improve the cost-efficiency, targeting and nutritional outcomes of SEMED food security policies and strategies and analyze food subsidy policies, supporting government agencies to reform programmes and policy measures to improve food security and nutrition for vulnerable populations.