With a growing gap between food supply and demand driven by a rapid population growth, alongside the constraints faced by scarce natural and water resources, climate change effects and humanitarian crises, the NENA region faces increasing risks to food security and nutrition.
Food Security and Healthy Diets for all Regional Priority (RP2) works to accelerate the transformation towards sustainable markets, trade and consumption through knowledge, action and investment by focusing on trade, enabling policies, food safety and quality, food loss and waste, and advocacy for nutrition with gender-responsive approaches.
RP2 programme is aligned with “Better Nutrition”, focusing on food security in all its dimensions, improved nutrition, and the associated elements of trade and food safety, adding a specific focus to address the nutritional needs of a rapidly growing urban population while meeting the specific needs of women and other marginalized groups. The availability of timely, high-quality data serves as a cross-cutting accelerator, enabling evidence-based decision-making and enhancing the impact and coherence of RP2’s diverse interventions.
Focus Areas
News
Events
22/6
2026
From Measurement to Impact: Strengthening Capacities on FAO Tools to Measure, Analyze, Reduce, and Valorize Food Loss and Waste in NENA Agrifood Systems
22/06/2026
Food loss and waste (FLW) represents a critical challenge affecting food security, nutrition, resource efficiency and environmental sustainability in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region. The region faces structural constraints including water scarcity, land degradation, climate change, import dependency and protracted crises, all of which increase the urgency of addressing FLW as a str...
23/6
2026
Introduction to food systems-based dietary guidelines
23/06/2026
Hunger reached a record high in 2024 in the Near East and North Africa1, the highest in more than two decades, among the Arab States, and malnutrition continues to rise in several countries in the region. The coexistence of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising overweight and obesity rates illustrates a complex “triple burden.” Nearly 38 percent of the region’s population could...
5/10
2026
9/10
2026
Youth Action Leadership for Agrifood awareness and Systems Transformations (YALAFAST) Cohort 2
Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), 05/10/2026 - 09/10/2026
Young people are central to the future of agrifood systems globally, particularly in regions where rural livelihoods continue to depend heavily on agriculture and food systems. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), agrifood systems employ around 44 percent of working youth worldwide and remain one of the main entry points into the labour market for youn...
17/6
2026
Webinar 2: Local Barriers and Human Capital for AI in Agrifood Systems in the NENA Region
17/06/2026
Background:
Stories
Publications
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region, 1st Quarter 2026 | Bulletin Empowering youth
2026
Global food markets showed slight recovery in early 2026, but ongoing geopolitical tensions and climate variability continue to pose risks to food security,...
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region, 3rd Quarter 2025 | Bulletin Financing the transformation of agrifood systems for food security and nutrition
2025
The Near East and North Africa (NENA) region faces a fragile food security landscape, shaped by inequality, conflict, climate extremes, and price volatility....
Food safety and quality in the Near East and North Africa Mapping drivers, challenges and imperatives
2025
The FAO RNE has developed a comprehensive report that maps the food safety and quality landscape across the NENA region. Utilizing the One Health Approach...
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region, 2nd Quarter 2025 | Bulletin Digital solutions for small-scale farmers in the NENA region: opportunities and challenges
2025
In the second quarter of 2025, the food security situation in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region remained fragile due to ongoing conflict,...
Repurposing agricultural subsidies for sustainable and resilient agrifood systems in the Near East and North Africa region Key issues and future agenda
2024
This study analyses the current state of agricultural and food subsidies in countries of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region and develops policy...
Near East and North Africa – Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024 Financing the transformation of agrifood systems
2024
Hunger in the Arab region worsened amid deepening crises in 2023. The Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition warns...
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa, 3rd and 4th Quarter 2024 | Bulletin Conflicts and Food Insecurity
2024
Economic growth continues to be subdued in the Near East and North Africa region due to uncertainties heightened by recent conflicts. This bulletin...
Activity Book - Right to foods
2024
The right to foods states that we should all have access to nutritious food in order to grow and live an active life. Some food choices depend on preferences,...
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region. 2nd Quarter 2024 | Bulletin Regional food safety – exploring challenges, strategies and actions
2024
The Quarterly Food Policy Monitoring Bulletin presents recent trends in international and regional commodity markets, food price developments, and regional...
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region. 1st Quarter 2024 | Bulletin
2024
Global food prices have continued their downward trend in recent months, falling back almost a third from their peak in 2022 by February 2024. International...
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region. 4th Quarter 2023 | Bulletin
2024
Global food prices have continued to drop at a slower pace in recent months; however, they are still well above the price levels observed in 2020. Commodity...
Near East and North Africa - Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023
2023
The Overview presents the food security and nutrition situation in the Arab States for 2022 when the effects of the war in Ukraine and record-high food...
Food Policy Monitoring in the Near East and North Africa, 3rd Quarter 2023 | Bulletin
2023
Global commodities and food prices continued their downward trend in the third quarter of 2023; however, food price inflation remains a great concern...
Feasibility study for application of digital technologies for improved traceability and transparency along the agrifood value chains
2023
Agrifood value chains of small and medium-sized producers in the Near East and North Africa region have the potential to generate more value through...
Understanding the potential for territorial markets to promote healthy diets – Evidence from Lebanon
2023
Smallholder farmers are responsible for most of the food consumed in the world, as well as most of the investments made in agriculture. They operate...
Guidelines for action on food loss and waste reduction in the Near East and North Africa
2023
The Guidelines for action on food loss and waste reduction in the Near East and North Africa provide support to Member Countries to implement the Voluntary...
Food Policy Monitoring in the Near East and North Africa. 2nd Quarter 2023 | Bulletin
2023
Although international commodities and food prices have declined over the past 12 months, domestic food price inflation remains high in many countries...
Food Policy Monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region. 1st Quarter 2023 | Bulletin
2023
While global food and fertilizer prices have continued to withdraw from their March 2022 peaks, they remain high compared to their 2019–2021 levels....
Reducing food loss and waste in the Near East and North Africa
2022
Food losses and waste (FLW) in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) are persistently high and point to the inefficiencies, unsustainability and inequalities...
Near East and North Africa – Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2022
2022
The report presents evidence that Arab States face significant challenges in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 targets related to hunger, food...
Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2020
2020
This report examines data available prior to the Covid-19 pandemic that affected the region and the world in 2020. By 2019, the Arab Region was already...
Working for Zero Hunger
2018
Did you know that there are over 820 million people in the world that go to bed hungry, while 1.9 billion people are overweight? The world has set...
