Climate change, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and agricultural development in the Middle East and North African countries

Population growth and increasing food demand have enhanced non-renewable energy consumption, emitting pollutants, and decreased soil fertility. The solution to this dilemma is the deployment of renewable energy. On the other hand, global warming and climate change pose a severe threat to the agricultural sector and endanger food security, especially in developing countries. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between climate change, consumption of renewable and non-renewable energy, and agricultural development in the thirteen Middle East and North African countries. Historical precipitation and temperature are included in the research model as climatic factors, and agricultural value-added is considered a proxy for agricultural development. This research has applied a Method of Moments Quantile regression using data from 2000 to 2018. The findings revealed a significant and negative relationship between temperature and value-added of agriculture in 0.3-0.9 quantiles. In addition, precipitation improves agricultural development in all quantiles except 0.1. Also, renewable energy usage increases agricultural value-added in upper and mid-quantiles, while the consumption of non-renewable energy reduces agriculture value-added in lower and mid-quantiles. The causality test demonstrates the existence of two-way causality between temperature, precipitation, non-renewable energy, and agricultural development, and a one-way causality link from consumption of renewable energy to agriculture value-added. According to the obtained outcomes, it is suggested that the governments should direct more resources to the development of renewable energy, especially in the agricultural sector.