Date: 17-18 November 2010

Venue: Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

Organised by: Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)

The RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies, together with the Food Security Center * (FSC) of the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, jointly sponsored a roundtable forum organised by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

The roundtable forum on ‘Achieving Greater Food Security in Asia through Improved Information Network’ was held on 17–18 November 2010 in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. The forum aimed to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) and examined the effectiveness of existing processes for monitoring and evaluating food security in the various ASEAN countries. The participants at the workshop sought to identify the gaps in those processes and made a number of recommendations on how the goal of strengthening the AFSIS can be achieved.

Participants of the forum included focal persons from the AFSIS, senior government officials and researchers working on food security. Dr Gil Saguiguit, Jr, Director of SEARCA delivered the opening remarks and Dr Detlev Virchow, Executive Manager of the FSC, gave a brief message to initiate the proceedings.

During the forum, plenary papers were presented by a number of speakers, namely Prof. Paul Teng, Senior Fellow and Adviser to the Food Security Programme in the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies and Professional Learning at the Singapore National Institute of Education (NIE); Dr Lourdes Adriano, Principal Agriculture Sector Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Dr Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, AFSIS Consultant and Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand; and Dr Wiroj Saengbangka from the Department of Agricultural Extension at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand. The speakers gave a broad overview of the food security situation in the region and discussed the status of the current regional food security information system at both the regional and country level. Country presentations were also given and these identified some of the food security issues in the respective countries, the challenges faced and the measures which have been undertaken to mitigate those challenges.

Click here to read the report on the roundtable proceedings.

* The FSC is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany.