Food security

Farmers roast harvested wheat using fire in a field on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, on May 18, 2026.

Analysis

How Syria’s wheat fields turned into first battleground over reconstruction

A battle over wheat prices could be the first political contest over who reconstruction will benefit.

Haddon Barth

By Haddon Barth

Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (R) arrives at the Burgenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne on June 21, 2026.

Iran rejects Trump's claim frozen funds will buy US soybeans: What to know

Trump said Wednesday that the US would release “some” Iranian frozen funds and would use them to purchase corn, wheat and soybeans from American farmers.

French Trade & Invest Commissioner for United Arab Emirates and Middle East and Business France's regional director for the Middle East Axel Baroux. — Business France

Interview

Franco-Gulf investment holds firm despite Iran war, French official says

French investors are reallocating capital toward strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence and technology rather than pulling out of the region altogether.

Axel Baroux

France’s trade and investment commissioner for the UAE and Middle East

Janti Soeripto helps at a community kitchen serving hot meals to displaced families arriving from El-Fasher.

Interview

As Sudan war drags on, US-Iran conflict compounds humanitarian crisis in Darfur

Save the Children US President and CEO Janti Soeripto said delivering aid in Sudan remains extremely difficult, with supply trucks often delayed for weeks or months even after entering the country.

Janti Soeripto

President and CEO of Save the Children US

Latest News

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran war deepens Gaza crisis as prices soar, aid falters

Children and families gather to receive free meals shortly before Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan at a displacement camp in central Gaza City, on Feb. 27, 2026.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

'No meaningful protection': Israel’s new Gaza aid rules raise data, security risks

People walk through a heavily damaged street in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2025.

India wheat

Egypt looks to India as alternative wheat source to Ukraine

Final talks are being held to send Indian wheat to Egypt, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted the global supply.

Egyptian workers harvest wheat in Saqiyat al-Manqadi village in the northern Nile Delta province of Menoufia, Egypt, May 1, 2019.

War in Ukraine pushes Egypt to ramp up wheat production

The Egyptian government is working to increase local wheat production to reach self-sufficiency, after the Russian war on Ukraine added many challenges to secure the country's needs for food security.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Ukraine top agenda as Blinken tours Middle East

Blinken's trip will include extensive discussions with Abu Dhabi's crown prince and stops in North Africa.

Egyptian men work in a bakery at a market in Cairo, Egypt, March 17, 2022.

Egypt seeks to contain price hikes caused by Ukraine crisis

Egypt is dealing with soaring prices of bread and food products.

Lebanese workers pack fruits and vegetables.

Lebanon seeks alternative wheat sources, bans some food exports amid war in Ukraine

Ukraine and Russia provide several Middle Eastern states with wheat, sunflower oil and more.

ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt explores alternative wheat sources amid Ukraine crisis

Egypt is seeking to secure wheat from alternative sources amid an escalated Ukrainian crisis that warns of global shortages.

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt to have eight months of wheat reserves, says minister

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening wheat supplies across the Middle East.

AL-MONITOR Staff

By AL-MONITOR Staff

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seen on video screens as he addresses the annual gathering for the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, Sept. 21, 2021.

Ukraine calls on Egypt to support it, abandon neutrality

Ruslan Nechai, charge d'affairs of Kyiv's embassy in Cairo, calls on Egypt and countries in the region to support it with weapons, fuel and financial and humanitarian aid, and abandon the position of "neutrality" regarding the Russian invasion.

Turkish Presidential Press Office

How Ukraine crisis undermines Turkey's economic program

Ankara’s economic program has hit a deadlock under the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, marked by a stream of fuel hikes, canceled tourism bookings and textile orders, and shortage fears in the food sector.

Wheat grains spilled from the silos at Beirut port in the massive explosion Aug. 4, 2020, are fully grown, Lebanon, May 27, 2021.

Lebanese fear wheat shortage amid Ukrainian crisis

Amid the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, concerns are growing in Lebanon over a shortage of wheat supplies, as the country imports the bulk of its wheat needs from Ukraine.

A stork stands next to a sunflower in a wheat field.

Gaza weary of Ukrainian crisis as wheat supplies dwindle

Traders in Gaza criticized the recent government decision forcing them not to raise prices of goods despite a looming crisis of shortages, as the besieged enclave mainly imports its needs from Ukraine, where Russia has launched a war.

A Palestinian boy waits for falafel at a vendor in Hebron in the West Bank, April 18, 2021.

Rise in price of falafel leaves Palestinians hangry

The price hike of a falafel sandwich, a popular street food once available to all, has stirred wide resentment amid the increase of prices of other foodstuffs.