Promoting Green and Blue Economies: Implication for food Security in the Mediterranean Region

Today the Mediterranean region faces important challenges in relation to food security and nutrition, which are projected to become more severe over the next decades. Despite the region has made significant progress in reducing undernutrition, the double burden of malnutrition still persists, which refers to both micronutrients deficiency and over-nutrition. Furthermore, the demand for food is expected to increase substantially by 2050 requiring a substantial increase in food supply in a scenario of scarce availability of two strategic resources for agricultural production - fertile land and water, climate change impacts, and greater price volatility in global food and agricultural markets. This context makes agricultural and food security issues particularly sensitive and calls for the development of an agri-food system based on the principles of green and blue economy, as well as the recognition that water, energy, food and other resources are interlinked in a web of complex relations where resource use and availability are interdependent.