World Bank: agrifood investment could create 5 million jobs in MENA, Afghanistan, Pakistan

The Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region could see 5 million new jobs by 2050 with ambitious investment in agriculture and food systems and reform of the business climate, according to Building Food Security, Creating Jobs, a World Bank Group report released in Washington on June 29, 2026. The report said the region had clear opportunities to build stronger agriculture and food systems, improve nutrition and counter food insecurity, and that the jobs would make a significant contribution to its youth employment challenge.

Eighteen percent of the region's population faced some level of food insecurity, a historic high, and 42 percent were unable to afford a nutritious diet, including many people in middle-income countries, the report found. Conflict was the chief cause of outright hunger, but food affordability and poor nutrition were widespread problems across the region. With food demand projected to rise by 67 percent by 2050, the report said near-term investment and policy reform were more needed than ever.

The standard definition of food security comes from the 1996 World Food Summit: it exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The report argued that transformative progress would require moving beyond fragmented interventions to integrated, sustained action that aligns policies, incentives and programmes across sectors and over time.

The report's central estimate was that raising regional investment in more water-efficient irrigation and agricultural innovation by US$12 billion a year, supported by ambitious and coherent policy reform, could substantially increase domestic food supply, more than doubling fruit and vegetable production and raising cereal yields by 72 percent by 2050. Resilient and well-managed trade, it added, could help the region develop export markets, balance its water needs and ensure food security at a reduced fiscal cost.

Drip irrigation is a familiar example of water-efficient irrigation. It is a form of micro-irrigation that lets water drip slowly into the root zone of plants, cutting evaporation and saving water and nutrients. The plastic emitter at the heart of the modern system was developed in Israel by Simcha Blass and his son, who set up the first experimental system in 1959.

The agrifood sector already employed about 63 million people, nearly three in ten workers across the region, the report said. On-farm employment was declining, but jobs in processing, logistics and food services were growing at twice the global rate. Better jobs could come from higher productivity, higher-value crops and rising farm incomes, while new opportunities could open across the value chain.

Surveys carried out for the report found that, contrary to common assumptions, large majorities of people saw agrifood employment as an opportunity to earn good money, especially for young people.

The report also highlighted how logistics investment and better consumer incentives could reduce food waste, helping to feed millions and freeing fiscal and natural resources, coupled with decisive action to balance demand and supply in favour of healthier, more nutritious food to combat poor nutrition.

"This report demonstrates that the region can take concrete, near-term action to boost food security, build the foundations for stronger agriculture and food systems, and create millions of new jobs," said Mesky Bhrane, World Bank Regional Director for the Planet Department. "The World Bank Group is actively supporting countries as they do this, by investing in innovative technologies and next-generation irrigation and agriculture, and linking farmers to new opportunities through the AgriConnect initiative." AgriConnect is a World Bank Group initiative to transform smallholder farming, create jobs and strengthen global food security.

The report's geography follows the Bank's regional groupings. From July 1, 2025, the World Bank moved Afghanistan and Pakistan from South Asia into its Middle East and North Africa region for statistical and analytical purposes, a grouping abbreviated as MENAAP.

Photo: Mr Masri / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Sources: World Bank, World Bank AgriConnect page, Wikipedia (MENAP, Food security, Drip irrigation)