Farmlandgrab about The mirage of food security: Big farming in North Africa's deserts

North Africa is a hotspot for increased extreme heat, drought and aridity, with the most severe projections of temperature increases reaching 2.6°C by 2065. This will have dramatic impacts on agriculture and pastoralism, exacerbating the region's already massive dependence on food imports.

From Egypt to Morocco, the current response to food insecurity is to try expanding large-scale farming southwards into the desert through partnerships with foreign agribusiness companies. These policies privilege the export production of water-thirsty crops and undermine the production of local foods. Hundreds of thousands of hectares have been allocated to projects promoted by companies from the Gulf and, more recently, Italy, under the Mattei Plan.

As these projects are supposed to be irrigated with underground water reserves, aquifers will quickly be depleted and costs will be high. While small farmers are pushed and squeezed out, there's no guarantee that production will be for local people.

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