Middle East & North Africa

In the MENA region, the pandemic has compounded other serious challenges — including low oil prices, ongoing conflicts and political transitions, and natural disasters — and has tested the resilience of national food systems heavily dependent on food imports. Despite an economic contraction across the region, MENA’s agrifood systems have proven relatively resilient. The greatest economic damage has occurred in food services, including hotels and restaurants, especially in countries reliant on tourism. Because industry and service sectors were harder hit by lockdowns, urban households experienced greater absolute income losses, but poor households in both rural and urban areas suffered the greatest impact. The drop in household incomes for the poor along with other public health impacts of the pandemic are likely to affect nutritional outcomes adversely. National policy responses are spurring recovery in some countries, but the fiscal implications of these public investments and increased cash transfers remain uncertain. Recent studies show a significant increase in demand for digital tools during the pandemic; this shift offers an opportunity to accelerate digitalization to reduce the vulnerability of the food system to future disruptions.