Past approaches to food security in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were informed by concerns about food availability. They aimed at domestic self-sufficiency and self-sufficiency by proxy (via farmland investments abroad). These strategies have failed. Water scarcity at home increasingly compromises agricultural production. Farmland investments abroad have not matched ambitious related announcements due to a complex mixture of commercial, socio-economic and political factors. They do not contribute meaningful quantities to the Gulf countries’ food imports. The failure of such strategies has prompted a shift of focus instead towards value chain management as a means to secure food availability. Rather than trying to fight food import dependence, the Gulf countries now accept and manage it. However, malnutrition that leads to high levels of obesity and diabetes constitutes a risk factor in the face of COVID-19. Food accessibility for vulnerable population segments such as migrant labour is another issue that requires yet further policy measures, such as safety nets – whose expansion would be politically controversial if not impossible, however.

中文翻译：

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消除自给自足的幻想？阿拉伯海湾国家的粮食安全和 COVID-19 的影响

海湾合作委员会 (GCC) 国家过去的粮食安全方法是出于对粮食供应的担忧。他们的目标是国内自给自足和代理自给自足（通过海外农田投资）。这些策略都失败了。国内缺水日益影响农业生产。由于商业、社会经济和政治因素的复杂混合，海外农田投资未能与雄心勃勃的相关公告相匹配。它们对海湾国家的粮食进口贡献不大。这些战略的失败促使人们将重点转向价值链管理，以此作为确保粮食供应的一种手段。海湾国家现在没有试图对抗粮食进口依赖，而是接受并管理它。然而，导致高水平肥胖和糖尿病的营养不良是面对 COVID-19 的风险因素。移民劳工等弱势群体的食品可及性是另一个需要采取进一步政策措施的问题，例如安全网——然而，如果不是不可能，扩大安全网将在政治上引起争议。