Strengthening Food Security in Southeast Asia: Regional Cooperation, Market Development and Policy Reforms

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of ASEAN food systems, exacerbating existing challenges and vulnerabilities. With the lessons learned during the 2007–2008 food price crisis, ASEAN developed a regional cooperation framework for food security. Member countries advanced policy reforms to strengthen domestic production and facilitate more liberalized agriculture markets. However, many challenges remain.

Organized by ADB's Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office and Economic Research and Development Impact Department, this forum will discuss the progress that ASEAN has made to strengthen food security over the last decade in different dimensions. This webinar aims to:

• Present an overview of the progress made by ASEAN in implementing integrated food security framework over the past decade;
• Provide insights into the regional cooperation framework for ASEAN's emergency rice reserve system and its role in addressing food system challenges; and
• Explore opportunities for scaling up regional cooperation and market development among ASEAN countries, and developing enabling domestic policy environment to strengthen food security.

Speakers

• Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager, ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve Secretariat
• Lourdes Adriano, Consultant, ADB
• Roehl Briones, Senior Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies
• David Dawe, Rice Market Specialist
• Cherdsak Virapat, Director General, Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific
• Andrew McKenzie, Professor, University of Arkansas
• Valerien Pede, Head of Impact Evaluation, Policy & Foresight Unit, International Rice Research Institute
• Chandran Nair, Founder and CEO, Global Institute for Tomorrow
• Jibran Punthakey, Agriculture Policy Analyst, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development