World Bank official: Lebanon, Yemen, Syria most food-insecure in region
Many states across the Middle East and North Africa meet the criteria for food insecurity, experts said at a US Institute of Peace event.
Much of the Middle East and North Africa is suffering from food insecurity related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The United States Institute of Peace hosted a virtual event on the topic June 30. The World Bank’s Haneen Sayed, who specializes in development, said that though the Middle East only has 6% of the world’s population, it has 20% of the world’s food-insecure people.
The World Bank identified the following criteria for determining food security related to the Ukraine war:
- Share of wheat imports coming from Ukraine and/or Russia
- Amount of domestic grain reserves
- Amount of domestic grain production
- Food price inflation
With that, Sayed identified Lebanon, Syria and Yemen as the most food-insecure countries in the region at present. Lebanon, with only one month of grain reserves, is the most affected, according to her. She added that Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Iraq also suffer from food insecurity.
