The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, opened a ministerial meeting on Tuesday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat, to discuss the issue of “Arab food security and finance”. The meeting was attended by Arab ministers of agriculture and representatives of financial institutions, unions and the private sector.
Aboul Gheit emphasized the importance of food security as an essential part of Arab national security, and pointed to the challenges it faces, such as the dependence on global supply chains, the decline in imports, and the impact of climate change. He said that the Arab League has prepared several strategies and plans to enhance Arab food security, but they have not been implemented due to the lack of funding.
He warned of the growing food gap, which is estimated at more than 100 million tons of food products, influenced by the increasing population of the Arab world and the decreasing rainfall rates in the region. He called for an urgent action to deal with these challenges, and to activate an Arab financing mechanism that ensures the flow of capital and encourages investment in sustainable projects that aim to increase Arab capabilities in clean energy and smart agriculture.
Aboul Gheit also stressed the importance of benefiting from the current debate on the reform of the global financial system, to demand reforms that enable the Arab countries to obtain necessary financial facilities and soft loans directed to raise their capacities in the production of basic food commodities and inputs.
He also proposed to hold an Arab Food Security week periodically, focusing on the topic of financing, and to strengthen the joint Arab action in the field of food security through the support of specialized Arab organizations.
