The Middle East invokes thoughts of a dark and mysterious corner of the globe where war, terror and chaos reign supreme and oil is the centre of their existence. Have you ever stopped to think about the effect the current financial and food crisis is having on third world countries other than Africa. I certainly didn’t, not until I read The Memri Economic Blog by Dr Nimrod Raphaeli.
Did you know that in the Middle East water availability is 1200 cubic metres per person per year, as opposed to the average person’s 8900 cubic metres per person per year AND this is expected to halve by the year 2050? Population growth, famine and desertification have all taken its toll on the area and water tables are being used with no option of being replenished. A water shortage is almost the same as an oxygen shortage, except the latter would take about a 13th of the time to wipe out the planet and it would make the current food crisis redundant. But I digress.
Essentially the current Middle Eastern situation is as follows: they have little to no arable land, are running out of water and without any ‘safety nets’ for the current crises, the most vulnerable people are dying of hunger. Their only option is to use the one thing they have – oil profits – to buy what they need from those who have. The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman) are involved in talks to buy farmland from countries like Sudan, Pakistan and Thailand. If this materialises, however, there could be some severe political consequences.
We all know exactly what land disputes have done to the world in the past and Jacques Diouf, the Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns against this course of action. He says that land purchases made in such an absolute manner could initiate unrest in these countries where they are battling enough to feed their own citizens. Diouf added, “I have no problem with Arabs doing the investment. Where I start getting worried is [a situation in which investors] rush and buy land all over the place. Land is a political hot potato.”
With the financial and food crisis bringing the world to its knees, I wait in anticipation of what move the Middle East decides to make – territorial conflict really would be the cherry on top.
Bread and Butter 
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