Peri-Urban Agriculture and Food Security in MENA Countries

This chapter presents an analysis of the potential contribution of urban (UA) and peri-urban (PUA) agricultural systems to food and nutritional security in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries. In the light of the limited data and scientific evidence regarding PU and PUA in these countries, we provide additional evidence regarding the structure of UA and PUA that may be in favour of food and nutritional security in the MENA region. We use three different sources of information: a foresight study on future food systems in the MENA region in 2050, a brief literature review on UA and PUA systems, and an empirical analysis based on global data for MENA countries. We find evidence that the proportion of agriculture in peri-urban areas contributes positively to the city's capacity to feed its population, but we do not see any size effect of peri-urban area (or its density), indicating that it may be more an intensive margin impact at play. We also find a positive and significant correlation between the share of PUA in total peri-urban area and available food per head, as well as (although less significant) with food diversity. We also find a higher elasticity of animal-sourced protein contents of diet to GDP per capita in MENA countries on average, compared with protein contents and available food per head, reflecting larger income elasticity for animal products on average.