ASIA / FOOD SECURITY

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today that countries in Asia and the Pacific need to increase investment in agriculture by 50 percent in order to be able to sustain the region’s growing population.

FAO's director-general Jacques Diouf, delivering the opening remarks at the Investment Forum for Food Security in Asia and the Pacific in Manila through a video recording, said that on account of soaring food prices, and the global financial and economic crisis the number of undernourished people in the region has increased by over 60 million in 2009 to 642 million in the last three years.

The Investment Forum, organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) around the theme “Food for all”, gathers key stakeholders in the Asia and Pacific region to share best practices, foster greater collaboration, and promote country-driven partnership frameworks for investments in food security.

Diouf noted that the high degree of food insecurity is the result of the low priority that has been given to agriculture in economic development policies. In the Asia and Pacific region, agriculture accounts for 11 percent of the GDP of their developing countries and over 50 percent of total employment.

The Asia and Pacific region is home to the largest number of the world’s poor, and is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and economic shocks. The region is also the largest supplier and consumer of food. It is the base of a dynamic food and agriculture industry that is providing an increasing range of affordable food products. Thus, what the region does for its own food security will resonate around the world.

To assist member countries efforts in hunger reduction FAO has assisted several countries and Regional Economic Organizations in the Asia and Pacific region in the design of their national and regional programmes for food security. FAO also launched, in December 2007, the Initiative on Soaring Food Prices to facilitate access by small farmers to indispensable inputs. In Asia and the Pacific, agricultural inputs worth USD 8 million have been provided to over 140 000 small farm households in 24 countries. In addition, through the European Union “Food Facility” programme, FAO has made available USD 100 million to the Asia and Pacific Region to benefit a quarter of a million households.