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
2/10
2025
Science & Innovation Driving Food Safety - From Vision to Network
02/10/2025
Food safety is vital for agrifood transformation in the Near East and North Africa (NENA), where population growth drives rising demand and foodborne disease risks remain high. S...
29/9
2025
1/10
2025
Sixth Near East Forestry Week
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), 29/09/2025 - 01/10/2025
The Near East Forestry Week (NEFW) is the region’s premier platform for forestry and rangeland dialogue, knowledge exchange, and partnerships. Convened every two years, NEFW brings together governments, research institutions, civil society, private sector, and international organizations to address the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing forests, rangeland...
29/9
2025
1/10
2025
The 27th session of the Near East Forestry and Range Commission - 29 September to 1 October
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Hybrid Event, 29/09/2025 - 01/10/2025
The Near East Forestry and Range Commission (NEFRC) is a statutory body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), established to advise member countries in the Near East and North Africa region on forestry, rangeland management, and land restoration.
Established in 1953, the NEFRC proudly celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2025, coinciding with FAO’s 80th an...
5/10
2025
30/10
2025
E-learning course on agriculture in trade agreements
05/10/2025 - 30/10/2025
The Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (RNE) and Markets and Trade Division (EST), in partnership with United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) are launching the first edition of their joint online course titled "Agriculture in Trade Agreements" from October 5 - 30, 2025. Conducted exclusively in Arabic, the course aims to enhance the capacity of stakeholde...
Stories
Publications
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...
