Saudi Arabia catapulted itself into the global economy with oil reserves. It has the highest GDP in the Middle East and is the third-largest oil producer in the world. It’s also known for a country of luxury and decadence, but it wasn’t always like that. The glitz and glam have only appeared in the last couple of decades. Saudi Arabia had a problem with food insecurity and drinkable water. Some of those issues still occur today. 90% of the country was a desert wasteland, unfit for agriculture. In recent decades, the Saudi government implemented extensive measures to lift itself out of a food desert, but does that mean there is no food insecurity for all people, including the Deaf? Let’s find out as we explore food and agriculture for the deaf community in Saudi Arabia. 

Challenges Faced by the Deaf Community

Photo by Travis Saylor: 

Communication Barriers 

The General Authority of Statistics and other sources estimate that the Deaf population in Saudi Arabia is up to 729,000 people, all of whom are five years or older and use Saudi Sign Language (SSL). Similar to many other places, Deaf individuals in Saudi Arabia encounter significant communication barriers, like a shortage of interpreters in public spaces. Moreover, there is a general lack of knowledge about Deaf culture and a lack of documented history about the Deaf community within the country, unlike in Western countries. This lack of understanding starts at home, where many Deaf children are born into hearing families that have little knowledge of the experiences and needs of Deaf individuals. This places these children at a significant disadvantage from the beginning, hindering their ability to thrive in a suitable environment.

Education

Culture is passed down from generation to generation. Being Deaf in Saudi Arabia doesn’t leave an opportunity for that. Therefore, individuals remain on the fringes of society. There was little access to a proper education. Many Deaf students were placed in mainstream schools and forced to do Arabic lip reading, and residential schools for the Deaf were established in 1964 in the capital of Riyadh. Two Deaf schools opened for boys and girls due to gender segregation. For a while, there weren’t any Deaf faculty at these schools because the special education program in Saudi Arabia wasn’t developed. The education system had teachers from Jordan and Egypt coming to teach these students using the sign language from their respective countries. This didn’t help the students, instead, it caused the SSL  and Deaf culture to die a little. 

Due to foreign influences from other Arab countries and the U.S. The meaning of being a Deaf Saudi and using the language specific to their community has been lost in time. However, on a more positive note, there is a real effort today from Deaf Saudis to build a strong and inclusive community through sports, clubs, and other organizations for people to gather, like the Saudi Association of Sign Language and the Deaf Club for Women.

Communication Carriers in Accessing Information about Food 

Why is access to food information important? Because what we consume determines our quality of life. If someone has only access to poor quality and unhealthy food, what do you think their life will be like? On the other hand, having access to better-quality food potentially decreases mental and physical health issues. 

Limited Nutritional Educational Resources Tailored to the Deaf Community

For proper education, there must be a certain level of understanding about how Deaf people learn. In Saudi Arabia, Deafness is only seen from a medical standpoint, not a cultural one. Lower-level education can only do so much to help a Deaf person build a standard quality of life. 

Bader Alomary wrote a personal statement on Deaf Unity, she talked about the need for Deaf accessibility to a higher quality of life in Saudi Arabia. Many people don’t consider SSL an actual language. There are a lot of setbacks, even though, In 2008, Saudi Arabia signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This gave Deaf people more access and opportunities but there is still a long way to go. The other issue is access to nutritionists who use sign language or food labels tailored to the Deaf. In this case, Deaf people cannot understand what is in the food or information to create a healthy diet. They don’t know what is going into their bodies or how bad food can impact them. 

The Need for Development of Sign Language Resources 

Photo by Mark Stebnicki

Interestingly enough, the Constitution of Saudi Arabia doesn’t guarantee the right or access to adequate food, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. It also doesn’t belong to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This creates a lot of problems for the Deaf community. 

Saudi Arabia had an issue with farming and agriculture for a long time because the land was essentially useless. The government realized that they needed a solution, fast. They started investing in advanced technologies improving the water, and foreign investments in agriculture, which added up to billions of dollars to reach a level of food sufficiency that would serve the population.

What seemed impossible became possible and now Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest exports of dates, wheat, and dairy products. What Saudia Arabia achieved by decreasing food insecurity was an accomplishment within itself. And their one goal is to have enough food for generations to come. 

Potential Solutions

The Ministry of Health placed guidelines for living a healthier lifestyle and having better nutrition. the Gulf Standardization Organization and Healthy Food Palm Dietary Guidelines also work with the MOH to establish healthy food programs. These guidelines include the control of salt, oil, fats, and other ingredients that can potentially be harmful in excess. But, again, these resources are not tailored to Deaf people. However, there are independent organizations with a mission to help Deaf people have better access to information through their native language. 

Efhamni is in the prototype stage and is currently being tested on Android devices. It’s a translation app that would help facilitate communication between the hearing and Deaf world.  applies deep learning techniques to translate isolated SSL to text and audio, which many apps can’t do. The evolution of technology could have a real impact on the Deaf community. Applications like this and others that come after it could help the Deaf. 

The Saudi government’s focus should be recognizing SSL as a natural language of the Deaf community. It’s a place to start with creating access to all areas of society. From there, Deaf people can get proper education in the food and health sectors. A further option if and when the situation progresses is to create a food app specifically for nutrition facts. For example, an app was launched by Public Health England that allows users to scan the barcode of food to know the contents of the product. 

Food and agriculture challenges encountered by the deaf community in Saudi Arabia highlight the significant barriers and disparities these individuals face. From communication obstacles to limited educational resources, it is clear that the deaf community in Saudi Arabia struggles to access essential information about food. This underscores the urgent need for more inclusive and comprehensive support systems tailored to the specific needs of the deaf population. By addressing these barriers and promoting deaf culture and education, Saudi Arabia can strive towards creating a more equitable and inclusive society for all its citizens, irrespective of their hearing abilities. 

Learn more about the Deaf and access to necessities by visiting our blog page at https://www.unspokenasl.com/

Thumbnail Photo Credit to: Photo by Lara Jameson