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The FoodAgro Meetup in Dubai brought Ukrainian producers together with international partners, underscoring how the MENA region is increasingly shaping Black Sea grain flows. Market speakers noted that MENA consistently imports more than 60 million tonnes of wheat a year, keeping demand resilient even when global consumption looks flat.

Volatility is now a defining feature of grain markets, but margin damage is still more often caused by organisational and behavioural failures than by price moves themselves.

On January 26, 2026, in Dubai, for the first time within one of the world’s largest food exhibitions — Gulfood — FoodAgro Meetup will be held. This is a professional international business meeting for Ukrainian producers and global partners.

Acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate across 16 countries and territories, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) said, urging urgent humanitarian action in the locations flagged as “hunger hotspots.”

Speaking at Grain Academy 2025 in Varna, a key regional forum for the Black Sea and Balkans grain trade, Malak Al Akiely of Golden Wheat for Grain Trading explained how government tenders that move futures, larger strategic reserves, sovereign fund investments and emerging digital grain hubs are turning the region into a price maker in global wheat and coarse grains.

In a region where farming is a battle against drought, heat, and scarcity, innovation has become the only path to survival. From gene editing to biologicals and AI-driven agriculture, technology is redefining how the Middle East and North Africa grow food—and how the milling industry secures its future.

The Black Sea region has long anchored global wheat trade with its aggressive pricing and geographic advantage — especially in the MENA region. But as weather volatility rises and competitors regroup, the balance is shifting. In this article, we explore how shifting production dynamics and geopolitical tensions are redrawing the trade map in one of the world’s most import-dependent regions.

The Middle East and North Africa’s grain and oilseeds industry will gather in Cairo thissummer for Global Grain MENA 2025, taking place on July 2–3 at the Four SeasonsHotel Cairo, Egypt.