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.

A Palestinian farmer waters the field in Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip, on September 25, 2013. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Urban agriculture spreads in Gaza

Local associations in Gaza are promoting urban and peri-urban agriculture to help marginalized families in light of the water crisis and food insecurity.

Israeli centrist leader at war with UNRWA

Contrary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid wholeheartedly embraced the threats by the Trump administration to cut UNRWA financing, which has the potential to create a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

A picture taken on August 14, 2016 in a abandoned village near the southern Iranian city of Sirjan shows dead pistachio trees at a field that farmers left behind due to the lack of water.
The pistachio trees at the village in southern Iran are long dead, bleached white by the sun -- the underground water reserves sucked dry by decades of over-farming and waste. The last farmers left with their families 10 years ago, and the village has the look of an abandoned Martian colony. / AFP / ATTA KENARE / TO GO WIT

Soil degradation neglected crisis in Iran

Rapid degradation of soil is costing Iran billions of dollars each year as well as threatening national security.

A butcher holds pieces of beef at a meat shop in Istanbul, Turkey, July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC11950E5810

What Turkey's halal ambitions mean for the average Turk

The Turkish government says it will bring in more revenue with the newly created Halal Accreditation Authority, but the move raises questions about discrimination, disappearing secularism and rising food prices for citizens.

How Eastern Ghouta residents survive siege

The 350,000 residents of Eastern Ghouta continue to live under the siege, where aid is never enough and the semi-autonomous way to survive the blockage was halted due to water shortage and contamination.