APN | Amman

30 October 2024

APN Chairperson, Razan Zuayter, shed light on the structural challenges hindering food security in the Arab world during a compelling speech at the Regional Forum for Accelerating Food Systems Transformation in the Arab Region, held in Jordan on 30 October 2024. She emphasized the public's loss of trust in many international actors due to repeated failures in addressing humanitarian crises and highlighted the dire situation in Gaza, which has led to one of the most severe famines since World War II.

Zuayter pointed to the critical challenge of over-reliance on food imports, with Arab countries importing more than half of their food needs despite having 200 million hectares of arable land, of which only one-third is cultivated.

She also showcased the pivotal role of civil society, citing the “Revive Gaza’s Farmland” project launched by APN last March in response to farmers' appeals. The project rehabilitated 600 dunams of farmland and supported 270 farmers.

Concluding her speech, Zuayter called for the adoption of an integrated Arab strategy to address the food security crisis, asserting that collaboration between governments and civil society is the key to achieving true food sovereignty. She stressed, “A meaningful transformation in food systems cannot be realized without ending wars, halting genocide, and lifting blockades on peoples”.