How to achieve food security in the Mediterranean?
Ipemed and Crédit Agricole Morocco organized a conference on food security in the Mediterranean as part of the international agriculture fair in Meknes.
The issue of food insecurity in the Mediterranean kicked off the debate, introduced by Miguel Angel Moratinos, former minister, and advisor to the Qatar National Food Security Programme. He set out the causes, which are both economic and structural, before moving on to the weak points and challenges: demographic growth, climate change, water supply difficulties, etc.
Jean-Louis Guigou, delegate general of Ipemed, blamed the withdrawal of states and the end of storage policies in the United States, Europe and Canada, and price volatility. As an example, a tonne of wheat cost 150 USD in 2010, and is 300 USD today. For Lucien Bourgeois, economist, consultant and member of the agriculture academy of France, who chaired the event, “Control via markets and the end of regulation, in particular through storage, are at the root of volatile prices,” which are responsible for inflation of foodstuffs. Michel Petit, agronomy engineer (INAPG), associate professor at CIHEAM IAMM in Montpellier and former director of the World Bank’s agriculture and rural development department, brought up the question of yields. Underlining his irritation at the number of analyses criticizing excess productivism in the world, he pointed to the considerable progress made in the last fifty years, and insisted on rising demand prospects that will require a 70% increase in production by 2050.
Tariq Sijilmassi, chairman of Crédit Agricole Morocco, spoke of the need to create a Mediterranean label, in particular for olive oil, since Mediterranean countries are in competition with emerging economies. Like Miguel Angel Moratinos, he said he was keen to “defend a common heritage in the name of the Mediterranean diet”. Lastly, a call for political momentum to strengthen regional Euro-Mediterranean cooperation came from Miguel Angel Moratinos. This should involve not just Europe and North Africa, he said, but also sub-Saharan Africa. He maintained that inter-dependence between Europe and the southern Mediterranean is essential when it comes to agriculture and food security.
Kelly Robin and Agnès Levallois