Introduction

According to Food Agricultural Organisation report

( 2019), more than 820 million people globally do not
have enough to eat.
At the same time, no region is exempted from
epidemic of overweight & obesity.
Ending hunger and all form of malnutrition by 2030 will
be immense challenges for the world.
It requires political committeemen, bolder actions and
the right investment.
 DEFINITION OF FOOD SECURITY

Food Security exists when all people, at all times,

have physical and economic access to sufficient safe
and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs
and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

This definition introduces four main dimensions of food security:

Physical AVAILABILITY of food

Economic and physical ACCESS to food

Food UTILIZATION

STABILITY of the other three dimensions over time

 DIMENSIONS OF FOOD SECURITY

Food availability addresses the “supply side” of food security and

is determined by the level of food production, stock levels and net
trade. Increase food production, increases food availability.
Food accessibility. It is ability of the people to have access to
food. Accessibility are measure in terms of affordability of people to
food. High income increase people affordability as they can afford to
buy food & reduce poverty.
Utilization is commonly understood as the way the body makes the
most of various nutrients in the food. It measure quantity & quality of
food consume. People need to consume good quality food that are
nutritious.
Stability. People’s food security situation may change. Adverse
weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors may impact
on your food security status. Therefore, food stability means whatever,
the situations, all people, all time should have access to food.
 Food From Local Production +
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2
 DIMENSIONS OF FOOD SECURITY

For food security objectives to be realized, when all four

dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneous simultaneously.

For example, even if people have money

(access), if there’s no food available in the
market (availability), people are at risk of
food insecurity.

Furthermore, food security is also about

quality, and that your body must be healthy to
enable the nutrients to be absorbed
(utilization).

These 3 dimensions should be stable over

time and not be affected negatively by natural,
social, economic or political factors.
 FOOD INSECURITY

Inadequate food consumption lead to food insecurity & it may

vary from a short-term experience to a life long condition.

Analysts defined two general types of food insecurity:

Chronic food insecurity Transitory food insecurity

Chronic food insecurity is taken Transitory food insecurity is

as long-term or persistent. short-term and temporary.
 FOOD INSECURITY
Chronic and transitory food insecurity have different causes:
Chronic food insecurity Transitory food insecurity

Is often the result of extended Is relatively unpredictable and

periods of poverty, lack of can emerge suddenly due to
assets and inadequate access flood, draught, fire or other
to productive or financial natural disasters like Coronavirus
resources.
SEVERITY OF FOOD INSECURITY

The intensity of food insecurity may be measured in

terms of levels of food intake.

Food Security:

Moderate Food Insecurity: People experience moderate food insecurity face uncertainty about their
ability to obtain food & have been forced to compromise on quality.
SEVERITY OF FOOD INSECURITY

SEVERITY
The measure of the severity of
food insecurity will influence
the nature, extent and urgency
of the assistance needed by
affected population groups.

Food security describe adequate access to

food in both quantity and quality.

Moderate Food insecurity people face uncertainty about their

ability to obtain food & have forced to compromise on quality or
quantity of the food they consume.

The most extreme situations, usually

associated with substantial loss of life will
warrant the description of famine.
SEVERITY OF FOOD INSECURITY

SEVERITY The measure of the severity of

food insecurity will influence
the nature, extent and urgency
of the assistance needed by
affected population groups.

Food security analysts/professionals may use

the term acute food insecurity to describe
a severe and life threatening situation.

The most extreme situations, usually

associated with substantial loss of life will
warrant the description of famine.
SEVERITY OF FOOD INSECURITY

The intensity of food insecurity may be measured

in terms of levels of food intake.
One option is to relate the severity of food insecurity to how
consumption falls below a threshold of 2,100 kcal per day:

Food security status Indicators

Food secure
Mild food insecurity
Moderate food insecurity
Severe food insecurity
 SEVERITY OF FOOD INSECURITY

The intensity of food insecurity may be measured

in terms of levels of food intake.
One option is to relate the severity of food insecurity to how
consumption falls below a threshold of 2,100 kcal per day:

Food security status Indicators

Food secure
Mild food insecurity
Moderate food insecurity
Severe food insecurity
 Challenges to Global Food Security

1. An increasing global population, in

combination with climate change, poses a threat
to food security as arable land becomes more scarce
Global population: increased from 4.4 billion to
6.1 billion between 1980-2000, in 2017 it was 7.53
billion & projected to be 9 billion in 2050
Food production: 50% increase from 1980-2000,
But that increase degradation of arable land:
75% in Central America, 20% in Africa; 11% in
Asia
2. Malnutrition Worldwide
World
Number and percentage of undernourished persons

2010-2012 868 million (12%)

2007-2009 867 million (13%)

2004-2006 898 million (14%)

1991-2001 919 million (15%)

1990-1992 1000 million (19%)

The FAO defines

undernourishment as the state
of consistently consuming less
energy, in the form of protein
and calories, to maintain a
weight appropriate for height,
Malnutrition on a global costs
and$3.5 trillion
for mild dollars, or
activity.

5% of the global GDP

3. Obesity
•Approximately 500 million people across the world are obese (BMI of 30 or
greater), and if the population that is overweight was also included (BMI of
25 or greater), 1.5 billion people would fall into this category.
If nothing is done to remedy the issue, 1 billion people are predicted to
be obese by 2030.
4. Vitamin/Mineral deficiencies
Vitamin A
Approximately 250,000 – 500,000 children that
are Vitamin A deficient develop blindness each
year
Iron
 Affects approximately 30% of people in the
world
Zinc
As of 2009, it was estimated that approximately
2 billion people were deficient in zinc
 Food Security in GCC

GCC food security rests almost entirely upon

international trade.
GCC imports 80–90 per cent of food consumption
Food imports are projected to grow to US$53.1bn
by 2020.
Availability & affordability of food are key strategic
priority for the GCC food security.
Characteristics of Agricultural Sector in GCC
GCC states do not have a comparative advantage in field
crop production.
High maximum temperatures limit yields for many crops
Inadequate rainfall (in the range of 50–250 mm per annum)
is well below that required for rain-fed cereal production
(e.g. wheat requires around 600–650 mm per year in hot
climates).
 Renewable freshwater resources are among the lowest in
the world.
 Soils are fragile and over 95 per cent of land on the Arabian
peninsula is subject to some form of desertification. Climate
change is likely to tighten these constraints
Food Security Risks in GCC
1. Supply Risk
Geopolitics and geography combine to make supply risk a particular
concern for GCC governments.
Supply risk can be due to:
Fear of USA food embargo as was the case in 1970s, when Arab
countries cut supply of oil to the West.
Fear of trade sanction from international community as case against
Syria, Libya and Iran
Threat from Iran to close strait of Hurmuz
Political instability in trade route such as Suez canal in Egypt, Syria,
Yemen etc.
These factors will reduce supply of food to GCC and create food
insecurity.
7.5 million tonnes of wheat and coarse grains are shipped from North
America, South America and Europe, and 4.6 million tonnes from the
Black Sea. This represents 81% of total imports of these commodities to
the GCC
Food Security Risks in GCC
2. Price Risk
Food prices are subject to fluctuation in global market prices & these
makes food imports expensive to GCC.
Wheat, corn, rice are subject to export controls whenever there is poor
harvest.
For instance, in 2010 – 2011 Russia and Ukraine imposed export bans
due to poor wheat harvest. This led to sharp rise in wheat prices &
affected many importers countries.
GCC populations are not uniformly wealthy: the poorest 10 per cent or
so may spend 30–50 per cent of their income on food .
 In Abu Dhabi, 12 per cent of households earn below $10,000 a year &
20 per cent of the population in Saudi Arabia live on less than $12,000 a
year.
Price risk constitutes a major threat to the food security of these
households
 GCC Food Security Strategies
GCC governments use a range of policies to manage price
and supply risks.
1. Price Controls and Consumer Subsidies
GCC populations benefit from a wide range of both direct
and indirect subsidies to ensure food remains affordable.
Nevertheless, food price controls through subsidies are
expensive, and potentially counterproductive in the longer
term.
It encourage the consumption of unhealthy, energy-dense
foods, they may also aggravate obesity and related health
issues.
It also contribute to high fiscal deficit which is not
sustainable in the long run.
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 GCC Food Security Strategies
2. Trade Diversification
GCC food imports are diversified, importing from different
countries assist GCC to manage supply and price risk by maximizing
alternative sources of supply.
GCC imports foods from many countries & reduce risk of
depending on few countries for food.
3. Strategic stockholding
GCC maintain strategic stocks of food supply to protect them
against price and supply risks.
GCC build strategic reserve stock of food & releases them
whenever prices of food sharply increased in the world market or
there is disruption in food supply.
Food reserves are also used to help low income households in
GCC.
Nevertheless, storage costs are too high to maintain the reserve.

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 Existed
Food Food
Stores + Productio
reserves n Systems

domestic
Food
Food Food
security Productio
Imports structure n

New
Early Investmen
Warning ts (Local+
System Abroad)

Target:
Target increasing domestic productions and reducing
imports
4
6
 Other Countries
UK 0.7
GCC OMAN Switzerland 0.8
Qatar 0.1 1.3 Germany 0.9
Bahrain 0.3 (2014) Japan 1.2
Kuwait 0.4 Denmark 1.3
Actu
UAE 0.6 USA 1.4
al
KSA 1.9 Ireland 1.6
OMAN France 1.7
3% Canada 1.7
(2040)
Nonwage 1.7
Target Sewed 1.8
ed Italy 2.4
8
 Omanis Omanis and
(family/month) = expatriates
(family/month)

35% 31%

9
 Food Percentages Actions
classification
commodities of FSS Planned

20
1. Lack of Agriculture land

Area
(Hec)

10
2. Inadequate Water resources

11
3. Tradition Livestock production systems:

16
4- Small scale farming

Number of Cultivated Holdings = 166,610

Around 74% of the farming are small scale
farming is
Mixed Farming Activities

5. Lack of marketing infrastructure

17
1. Implementing an integrated natural resource management
systems to facilitate food security.
2. Increasing domestic food production, integrated with food
chains business.
3. Bridging the gap between growth population and food
demand.
4. Expanding agriculture & fisheries investment.
5. Strengthening the capacities of food reserves and stores.
6. Adaption an early warning system to stabilize international
food price.
7. Improving food consumption pattern.

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 References
 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (2013). Hunger
Portal: FAQ. Date retrieved: June 11, 2013. Retrieved from:
http://www.fao.org/hunger/en
 FAO (2006) Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase
Classification (IPC) Framework, ESA Policy Brief, 06-01.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/ESA/policybriefs/pb_01.pdf
 WFP (2005) Emergency Food Security Assessment Handbook.
www.wfp.org/operations/emergency_needs/EFSA_section1.pdf
 Devereux, S. (2006) Distinguishing between chronic and transitory food
insecurity in emergency needs assessments. SENAC, WFP, Rome.
 Rickey Y. Yada ( 2013). Feeding the world into the future: the role of
food science and technology. Nutrition: Research, Innovation and
Markets University of Toronto.

 Naufal H. Rasheed. Food Security in Oman: Challenges and

Opportunities. Food Security Workshop, Sultan Qaboos University
Thank You