A New Geography of Food

The Gulf is changing the geography of production and consumption. Its import demand is leading to control over production in agricultural countries in Asia and Africa. Its weight in export markets gives it influence over trade terms and standards of production. This is concomitant with the development of transport infrastructure and the growth of the Gulf’s logistical sector. A facet of this change is a fundamental reorganisation of regional food trade that has allowed countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia to achieve some of the largest values of food exports in the Arab region. Another trend is the increasing control that Gulf conglomerates have over food production in regional countries such as Egypt and Iran.