Food Security Beyond Borders: Securing ASEAN’s Food Supply Chains

The preferred situation in reality is to plan, at the outset, on using trade as an integral part of assuring food sufficiency by recognising the limits of domestic production. [...] These and the global supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine necessitate an assessment of how much more can be done in the trade components of food security and the consideration of a truly regional rather than country-based approach across the regional supply chains. [...] The Increasing Role of Regional Trade in Food Security Regional food supply chain security – whether due to the region’s vulnerability to input supply and price shocks or the high share of extra-regional ASEAN trade – therefore requires renewed attention. [...] Instead of leaving such decisions to the markets alone, it behoves the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and the trade ministers to look into such questions in future meetings on the post-2025 ASEAN Economic Community agenda. [...] Striking a delicate balance is key to achieving an integrated market and a single production area as part of the ASEAN Economic Community, which also caters to the needs of the region’s poorest populations.