In 2014, the CIHEAM Member States launched the “MEDiterranean Agricultural Markets Information Network (MED-AMIN)” to promote cooperation and the sharing of experiences between national agricultural market information systems. Devoted to strategic cereal products such as wheat, corn, barley or rice, the MED-Amin network aims to contribute to food security in the Mediterranean countries. The name of this network is a strong message sent by countries, because the adjective amin in Arabic refers to the notion of "trust".

8^th Meeting of the MED-Amin Network

The 8^th annual meeting of the MED-Amin network was held online on 23 November, 2021 from 9:30 to 17:00. Experts from the 13 Member States of the CIHEAM discussed recent market developments related to soaring international prices and early warning challenges for the Mediterranean region. The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the activities implemented in 2021 and those planned for 2022 in the framework of its MED-Amin 2021-2023 Action Plan.

Agricultural prices almost near historic highs 

This meeting was held in a context of rising agricultural commodity prices. In fact, the FAO, which publishes a monthly Food Price Index for basic foodstuffs, warns that this index has been rising steadily for a year.

In his speech, the Secretary General of the CIHEAM, Placído Plaza wished to recall the important role of initiatives such as the MED-Amin Network that thanks to a factual basis and updated documentation, alert as early as possible thus contributing to anticipating food crises like those of 2008.

He also stressed the need to endow the Mediterranean with an early warning system that relies on a larger set of data than the observation of prices or production conditions.