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Food security in selected Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries: an inter-country comparison

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Abstract

This study aims to assess and compare food security and its socio-demographic correlates in 18 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries that fall under the auspices of the World Health Organization Regional Office of the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO). This cross-sectional study is based on data from the 2016 Gallup World Poll. The study sample included an average of 1000 individuals per country (n = 18,079). Food security status of individuals was measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). Various statistical analyses such as descriptive, bivariate, and binary logistic regression were conducted. Countries were categorized into three clusters based on frequency of moderate to severe food insecurity, as well as political stability index and per capita income. The frequency of severe food insecurity was significantly lower in countries in cluster 1 (rich, stable) (5.0%) compared to the second (middle-low income, less stable) (13.6%), and third (middle-low income, unstable) (26.7%) clusters (P < 0.001). Based on logistic regression analyses, income quintile per capita, personal health index and education levels were the main predictors of food insecurity in all three clusters. The results provide insight into the diversity of the MENA countries studied and the different policy options needed to improve their food security.

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Notes

  1. Cluster 1: countries with less than 8% severe food insecurity; cluster 2: between 8 and 16% severe food insecurity; and cluster 3: above 16% severe food insecurity

  2. Food secure (0 = no; 1 = yes); Mild FIS (Food Insecurity 0 = no; 1 = yes); Moderate FIS (0 = no; 1 = yes); Severe FIS (0 = no; 1 = yes)

  3. Female and Male

  4. Single/never married; Separated/divorced and widowed.

  5. Less (up to 8 years of basic education); secondary-3 year/tertiary secondary education and some education beyond secondary education (9–15 years of education); and completed 4 years of education beyond ‘high school’ and/or received a 4-year college degree.

  6. Unemployed; Out of workforce; Part-time work; and Full-time work.

  7. 1 to 3; 4 to 6; 7 and more persons.

  8. Rural; Urban areas.

  9. Dissatisfied; Satisfied.

  10. Respondent’s positive attitude for the future and specifically respondents’ certain aspects of their life which are getting better or getting worse.

  11. Respondents’ perceptions of where they stand now and in the future.

  12. Poor; only fair; and good/excellent.

  13. The ambitious Green Morocco Plan (GMP) aims to make the agricultural sector a priority boost to the socio-economic development in the country.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Ayoub Al-jawaldeh, FAO, Voices of Hungry Project, and McGill Institute for Global Food Security.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Nutrition, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Nasrin Omidvar

  2. McGill Institute for Global Food Security, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Davod Ahmadi, Kate Sinclair & Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez

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  1. Nasrin Omidvar
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Correspondence to Davod Ahmadi.

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Omidvar, N., Ahmadi, D., Sinclair, K. et al. Food security in selected Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries: an inter-country comparison. Food Sec. 11, 531–540 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00935-w

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