Logistics of the neoliberal food regime: circulation, corporate food security and the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

A growing body of literature acknowledges that the Gulf Cooperation Council’s demand for food is met through a set of commodity chains that span the regional and global economy. But the development of national corporate food security strategies premised on the consolidation of logistical networks and food commodity chains has not been sufficiently explored. This paper is concerned with the United Arab Emirates’ footprint on the regional and international food regime, and the state’s production as a regional hub for agri-food trade. We trace the ways the UAE’s corporate food security strategy utilises the private sector, agribusiness and logistics firms, alongside military power, to achieve so-called food security. We bring the literature on food regimes and logistics space into dialogue to explore the UAE’s food security policy as a strategy to consolidate power over agro-commodity production and distribution networks.