The Covid-19 pandemic: threats on food security in the mediterranean region

36 p.

English. The COVID 19 pandemic is a major world phenomenon. Its economic impact is just beginning to unfold, but we already know that its size will be huge, of an unprecedented order of magnitude. It already has impacted many aspects of human and social behavior and will continue to do so. People most at risk are the poor, the marginalized and the socially excluded whose basic components of their livelihood are under threat: their health, their income, their food security. This report is focused on the consequences for food security in seven Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries belonging to CIHEAM : Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey. It was decided to focus on those countries because of their potential vulnerability to the crises stemming from the convergence of several disrupting factors combined to the COVID-19 pandemic (natural disasters, prolonged drought, devaluation of currencies, social unrest). In addition, food security in those countries is highly dependent on international trade which was put under threat by the pandemic. As for the other CIHEAM countries (France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain), for which there is a wealth of studies and reports about the COVID-19 crises, their belonging to the EU and their participation in the Common Agricultural Policy may considerably reduce the immediate threats on food security. The main emphasis will be placed on economic analysis because the economic dimensions of food security are critical, while recognizing that there are also other important dimensions (nutritional, social, ethical, political, geopolitical, etc.).