Question #42174
1 Answer
Combination of the huge desert taking up most of their area, and urban expansion and population increases consuming much of the other arable land.
Explanation:
North African countries have the Sahara Desert running through most of them, which means they don't have a ton of arable (farmable) land to begin with. But historically they could generally support their populations despite a few famines.
Now, populations worldwide have been growing, including in North African countries, so there are more people to feed. Aside from being hard to grow things in the desert, it's also hard to build in the desert, so arable land is also being consumed by urban development. With so many more people, more homes, shops, offices and businesses are also needed.
That's why, for example, Egypt now imports about 50% of its food. There are some initiatives out there to start trying to make desert areas farmable, though: http://www.takepart.com/feature/2016/01/08/desert-farming-egypt
