The GCC countries, wealthy but water-poor, need to start looking at the different avenues available for feeding their populations, says a report by the Gulf Research Center. (The National summarized the report's findings here). To that end they are looking into the production capabilities of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, including Sudan, South Africa, Pakistan, Senegal and others. The Economist had a piece about this issue in last week's magazine that discussed Saudi Arabia specifically, but could be aptly applied to the whole GCC; one of the caveats it mentioned to this foreign-direct-investment plan is that the countries “could be resented for buying up primary commodities from poor countries, while monopolising and limiting the output of their own special one: oil”.
The Economist also points out that Sudan right now receives food from the UN's World Food Programme – which doesn't suggest a promising future in agriculture there.
