Estimation and analysis of the economic effects of the Corona Virus on Food Security in Iraq

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic is one of the types of communicable and infectious diseases that have caused very significant impacts in many economic variables, especially the food gap for wheat and rice crops in Iraq and in the majority of the world. The problem of research lies in the nature of the challenges and constraints to the production of these two crops, which has made the effects of the pandemic add additional burden to it. Iraq has thus lost its ability to achieve food security, while food prices have risen significantly, reflecting the high rate of deficits in the State's general budget, as Iraq is a net importer of most types of agricultural products, particularly the strategy. The research aims to study the reality of food security from wheat and rice crops during the period of the pandemic and its repercussions in the Iraqi economy. A number of findings have been reached in the practical aspect of the study, including the emergence of the inverse relationship between the quantities produced by wheat and its food gap. The relationship between the quantities produced and imported from rice and its food gap has been expulsive. The State's general budget deficit relationship with the food gap in both crops was expulsive. We recommend diversifying the production of the Iraqi economy, reducing dependence on the oil sector's foreign exchange revenues, adopting a policy of protection for domestic products from foreign competition and developing agricultural infrastructure to the extent that it is capable of achieving food security from both crops at all times.