Iran is a Shiite majority country in southwest Asia bordering seven countries which are; Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,Iraq,Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. There are 31 provinces in Iran which vary drastically.  Iran is the second biggest country in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and has a population of approximately 77 million people. (Heslot S., 2014) Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has managed to reduce hunger significantly. While oil is the main export item in Iran both pistachios and caviar are the most traded non-oil items. On the overall agriculture is unproductive due to outdated methods … Continue reading Iran: Water Crisis, Food and Trade

Introduction To start this blog about Venezuela I will start by giving a brief historical timeline that will give a general background. It is important to mention that Venezuela is a significant oil producer which uses much of that revenue for food and social programs throughout the country. When oil prices are low the government lacks the financial ability to support food and social programs. In order to understand modern Venezuela there will be a short background on Hugo Chávez’ who was the leader for about fifteen years. By gaining a good understanding of Chávez’ government it will be easier … Continue reading Food Crisis in Venezuela

Yemen Yemen is located in Southern part of Arabia and boarders Saudi Arabia from the North and Omen to the East. Currently, there is an civil war that seems to never have an ending. In the past few weeks I’ve been thinking about the images of children starving that you often see on Aljazeera and grew curious about food security in Yemen . Not only did I learn about the issue of hunger and food issues in Yemen at the moment but I also learned a lot of interesting history. To begin I will provide a brief history and background … Continue reading Food Struggles in Yemen

While Tunisia was having its Arab Spring in 2011 I was wondering what was going on in the neighboring countries such as Algeria. I feel like we don’t hear much about Algeria but it does have an interesting history. Algeria was one of the longest held territories of France until its independence in 1962. Before, gaining independence there was an eight year war between the local Muslim population and the French colonialists. The National Liberation Front (NLF) which was led by Ahmad Ben Bella, represented the local population and because they won the war the NLF established a one-party system. … Continue reading How did Tunisia’s Arab Spring Influence Neighboring Algeria?

Introduction On December 19, 2016 Anis Amri stole a truck and crashed it into a Christmas Market in Berlin, Germany. When I did my research and found that Amri was a Tunisian national I instantly thought to myself, why would someone do this? I started by researching Tunisia and its economic history. As a person who studied Anthropology of Food I couldn’t help but notice a connection between the rising prices of food and refugees in Germany from North Africa. This particular country profile will analyze the influences of the Arab Spring on January 4, 2011  and the current situation. … Continue reading The Impact of the Tunisian Revolution Today