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Livestock and food security in the Arab region: policy framework

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Abstract

Livestock keeping constitutes a traditional and important economic activity in the Arab region. This paper aims to assess the role of the Arab livestock sector in food and nutritional security in terms of demand, supply, national policies and trade in the light of major environmental constraints, with data illustrations from Morocco (Mediterranean country) and Saudi Arabia (oil-rich country). Demand for livestock products is increasing in the Arab region driven by the growing population with different degrees of increased urbanization and wealth. On the supply side, local livestock production is largely based on rainfed mixed and pastoral livestock systems making it vulnerable to the effects of climate change and water scarcity. Intensive systems, where present, are mostly dependent on feed imports with an important water footprint. Livestock production is further conditioned by a history of arbitrary national policies that had a particularly negative effect on small producers and contributed to the degradation of national resources. Arab countries rely on trade from the world market to fill their gap in animal feed and livestock products with varying trading power based on wealth and the availability of free trade agreements. Following analysis of the sector, the paper concludes with the proposition of a pro-poor policy framework for the development of a sustainable Arab livestock sector.

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Notes

  1. Hima: Grazing reserve for restricted use by a village community, clan or tribe, set aside to allow regeneration as part of a grazing management strategy (Kilani et al.: A Way of Life, IUCN West Asia Regional Office, Amman Jordan – SPNL Beirut, Lebanon, 2007:3).

  2. See Plan Maroc Vert (2009), http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/FAO-countries/Maroc/plan_maroc_vert.pdf

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Riad el Solh, Beirut, 1107-2020, Lebanon

    Lina S. Jaber & Shadi K. Hamadeh

  2. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany

    Katharina E. Diehl

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  1. Lina S. Jaber
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  2. Katharina E. Diehl
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  3. Shadi K. Hamadeh
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Correspondence to Shadi K. Hamadeh.

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Jaber, L.S., Diehl, K.E. & Hamadeh, S.K. Livestock and food security in the Arab region: policy framework. Food Sec. 8, 899–908 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-016-0608-4

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