The Middle East and North Africa “MENA” are important parts of the global food market. Food security and higher food prices are thought to be major factors in the region’s recent unrest. The MENA region is the largest wheat importer in the world, and wheat prices have doubled since 2005. With substantial and sustained increases in international prices of foods, coupled with a fast-growing domestic food demand, some MENA countries are facing growing fiscal and inflationary pressures. Most interesting, in all MENA countries, a decline in global food prices barely translates into a reduction in domestic food prices. What data shows us is that countries could reduce food price pressures considerably by tackling domestic issues, improving the targeting of subsidies and other food consumption and production policies.

http://menablog.worldbank.org/how-exposed-are-mena-households-global-food-price-increases