Youth, Resilience, and the Right to Food in the Near East and North Africa

 

This blog is based on my intervention during the Youth Assembly Session: Near East and North Africa Roundtable (YA03), held at FAO Headquarters on 14 October 2025.

When crisis or conflict strikes in the Near East and North Africa, food systems are often the first to break down. And when they do, it’s not only livelihoods that are lost — it’s dignity, stability, and the most basic human right: the right to food.

This right is still widely misunderstood. It is not charity, and it is not about providing food aid. It is the right of every person to have regular, permanent, and dignified access — physically and economically — to adequate, safe, nutritious, and culturally acceptable food, produced and consumed in a way that sustains life and respects human dignity. It obliges governments, even in times of war or disaster, to respect people’s access to food, to protect it from being taken away, and to fulfil it when it is denied. In other words, it turns food security from an aspiration into a legal duty.

In the NENA region, this right is under immense strain. We see it most dramatically in Gaza, where the deliberate destruction of food systems and the obstruction of humanitarian access have brought people to the edge of famine. As fragile signs of peace begin to appear, the question is whether they can last — because without food, there is no peace; and without peace, there is no right to food. The reconstruction of Gaza’s farms, fisheries, markets, and infrastructure will be a test of whether the world truly understands this link between food and peace.

But Gaza is not alone. Across the region — from Sudan to Yemen, from Syria to Lebanon — millions live amid instability, drought, and displacement. Economic shocks, climate extremes, and inequality deepen these crises, while a powerful demographic reality shapes the region’s future: nearly 60 percent of its people are under 30. The future of food in the Near East and North Africa depends on these young people — on their capacity to remain active, creative, and hopeful, even when the world around them seems to collapse.

FAO’s recent global report on the Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems shows that 44 percent of working youth worldwide are already employed in agrifood systems, and that food insecurity among them has increased sharply in recent years. That is not just a number — it is a warning. If we fail to support young people today, we risk losing the next generation of farmers, producers, and innovators who can sustain food systems tomorrow.

Safeguarding the right to food in times of crisis means placing human rights at the heart of response and recovery — ensuring that every humanitarian and reconstruction effort helps people regain the ability to feed themselves with dignity. It means protecting and restoring local food production even in conflict, by guaranteeing access to land, seeds, and markets, and by supporting small-scale farmers — particularly young people — who often keep communities alive when everything else collapses. It means empowering youth not as beneficiaries, but as leaders of change.

Across the region, we see inspiring examples: young entrepreneurs in Tunisia using digital platforms to connect farmers and consumers; cooperatives led by young women in Egypt preserving local foods and creating jobs. These stories are not exceptions — they are the foundation of resilience.

There is also a quieter transformation taking place — a shift in diets. Traditional, diverse, plant-rich foods are being replaced by imported, ultra-processed ones. This change, driven by urbanization and global markets, erodes both nutrition and culture. Protecting the right to adequate food also means protecting people’s access to healthy, sustainable diets that reflect their traditions, their climate, and their identity.

And there is no talking about food in this region without talking about water. The Near East and North Africa is the most water-stressed region on Earth. Without water, agriculture cannot survive, and food systems collapse. That is why FAO continues to emphasize the nexus between food, water, and peace.

Ultimately, defending the right to food in times of crisis is about defending life itself. It means ensuring that every measure we take — from emergency aid to long-term planning — restores people’s autonomy, dignity, and capacity to feed themselves and their communities. Youth are at the heart of this transformation. They carry the creativity, the energy, and the resilience that this region needs. Our role — as FAO and as partners — is to make sure that their rights, and the right to food for all, are not suspended in times of crisis, but strengthened by the way we choose to respond.