This Research Report, the first in in the series "Expanding social insurance for agricultural workers in Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Identifying key constraints and discussing policy options", focuses on exploring the most adequate social insurance benefits and features capable of addressing the main risks facing agricultural workers in the MENA region.
Agricultural workers are exposed to many risks during their life cycle and are particularly vulnerable to covariate risks, such as droughts, armed conflict and pandemics. Despite the great potential of social protection policies to protect this segment of the population, agricultural workers are commonly excluded from social protection systems—especially from contributory schemes—due to legal, programme design, financial, administrative, institutional, participation, and information barriers. This paper analyses the availability of social insurance schemes for agricultural workers in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, including many types of insurance: old age, disability and survivors’, sickness and maternity, work injury, and unemployment, as well as family and child allowances. In addition, we analyse agricultural insurance schemes, as they play a critical role in protecting agricultural producers from the catastrophic impact of covariate risks. We examine the barriers for agricultural workers to participate in contributory schemes, highlighting good practices being adopted in NENA countries to address them. This paper thus aims to help fill a gap in the literature regarding the role of contributory schemes for agricultural workers. Most importantly, it aims to highlight paths towards more comprehensive social protection systems, capable of addressing the pressing challenges in NENA countries, such as inequities between rural and urban populations, lack of rural development, and insufficient protection for rural families.
This publication presents a range of social protection programmes in the Near East and North Africa region, including government-led social assistance, food subsidies, contributory social security and insurance schemes, and systems based on religious and cultural traditions.
This Research Report, the second in the series "Expanding Social insurance for agricultural workers in Middle East and North Africa (MENA): identifying key constraints and discussing policy options", focuses on the financial barriers to expand social insurance for agricultural workers.
The third and final Research Report in the series "Expanding Social insurance for agricultural workers in Middle East and North Africa (MENA): identifying key constraints and discussing policy options" focuses on understanding the administrative barriers and capacity constraints that may hinder the coverage of agricultural workers in social insurance schemes, and which strategies could be considered to address them.
This catalogue aims to improve the dissemination and outreach of FAO’s knowledge products and overall publishing programme. By providing information on its key publications in every area of FAO’s work, and catering to a range of audiences, it thereby contributes to all organizational outcomes. From statistical analysis to specialized manuals to children’s books, FAO publications cater to a diverse range of audiences. This catalogue presents a selection of FAO’s main publications, produced in 2023 or earlier, ranging from its global reports and general interest publications to numerous specialized titles. In addition to the major themes of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it also includes thematic sections on climate change, economic and social development, and food safety and nutrition.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.
Most countries in the Near East and North Africa saw a steady improvement in food security and nutrition up to the beginning of the decade. Food production was rising and undernourishment and poverty were receding. However, the situation has deteriorated since 2012, largely driven by increasing conflicts and protracted crises as well as water scarcity and climate change.
"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.
