Food Crisis, the International Food Regime, and Endless Agrarian Modernization in the MENA Region
Episode 185 Food Crisis, the International Food Regime, and Endless Agrarian Modernization in the MENA Region The agrarian and food crisis in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have re-emerged vigorously to the attention of global development agencies and governments in coincidence with the Russia-Ukraine war. The food crisis has been interpreted through a number of tropes, including Malthusian, environmentally determinist, security and development economics approaches. Within the dominant mainstream discourse, the MENA region is often depicted as a homogenous geographical area characterized by dryness, infertile lands and poor water resources. How did imperialism, colonialism and the Cold War influence the MENA food systems? What were the effects of agrarian modernizations, trade liberalization and neoliberalism on the agricultural systems in the region? These are some questions that this presentation tries to answer using a geographical and historical-comparative analysis, thro
