The effects of the food crisis triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine haven't been felt equally across the Middle East. Here's why.
A version of this story first appeared in CNN's Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region's biggest stories. Sign up here.
Abu Dhabi, UAE When Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered an international food crisis, some Middle Eastern importers were hit particularly hard. An economically shattered Lebanon is fighting to avert a bread crisis, war-torn Yemen is already grappling with"alarming heights" of food insecurity, and Egypt, which last year imported 80% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, is capping bread prices to dodge hunger at home.
But elsewhere, in an even more arid part of the region, other countries appeared to be relatively unscathed. The leaders of Gulf Arab countries -- where less than 2% of land is cultivated and 85% of food is imported -- seem to have met this food crisis well-prepared. The secret, analysts say, lies in their decades-long strategy for food security and resources to implement it.
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