Agricultural products diversification-food security nexus in the GCC countries; introducing a new index

Due to its significance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), food security has gained considerable attention from governments and policymakers worldwide. Since agricultural production primarily contributes to food security success, efforts have been directed toward it. Consequently, this study aims to examine the effects of agricultural product diversification strategies on food security in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries over the period 2002–2018. Agricultural product diversification is computed through three indexes, namely the Herfindahl-Hirschman concentration index, Theil, and Gini inequality indexes. On the other hand, actual values of food production, protein supply, and dietary energy supply adequacy are three proxies for food security. Furthermore, the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) panel Granger non-causality test used to test the non-causality between agricultural product diversification and food security. As a result, our statistical findings prove a causal relationship between all agricultural product diversification indexes and food security. This paper will significantly contribute to policymakers and governments upgrading and introducing efficient strategies to encourage farmers toward agricultural product diversification.