The Arab Response to the Global Food Crisis

We have argued in the previous chapter that the global food crisis had a profound effect on the Arab countries in economic, social, and political terms. Arab governments have responded to this crisis with a variety of short-term measures and in many cases also with a more fundamental reappraisal of their food security strategies. The short-term responses have largely involved the introduction of a number of government interventions in the attempt to mitigate the adverse socioeconomic impact of rising food prices, whilst the longer-term responses have included a new emphasis on more domestic food production and programmes to acquire land in third-party countries.