Murdoch University-RSIS Joint Seminar on Food Security, Trade and Partnership:Towards Resilient Regional Food Systems in Asia

Lecture Abstract:

Asia has made significant progress towards reducing poverty and food insecurity, and many countries in the region have achieved food security in the short term. Eliminating food insecurity altogether is a long-term issue however, and there is growing concern regarding Asia’s ability to provide adequate quantities of safe, nutritious and good quality food in the face of increasing population pressure, urbanisation, and environmental deficits.

The issue of food security as a complex, context-dependent and shared concern formed the starting point of the Second Murdoch Commission (SMC), an independent, international inquiry established by Murdoch University. The Commission investigated how contemporary food security in Asia is embedded in increasingly interdependent food systems, and to answer the question how best can Asia feed itself over the coming two decades?

The scope of the Commission’s inquiry was focused on the ASEAN+6 group of nations¹. The themes of the Commission’s deliberations included:

• The reality of food security;
• Food system productivity and public investment;
• Trade policies and regional frameworks; and
• Innovation for food security.

This seminar will discuss some of the key findings and recommendations of the Commission’s Final Report, and cover some of the broader issues and opportunities facing the region as it works towards a more strategic and holistic approach to creating resilience within regional food systems, and ensuring adequacy of supply, and sustainable access and utilisation.

Using the general themes of the Commission’s inquiry, seminar attendees are invited to engage with keynote presenters and panellists on topics including:

• Resilience and food security in Asia, including possible futures for food security in 2035.
• The role of trade and regional frameworks (and sub-regional groupings) and how they relate to each other in terms of common interests in food security. How best can we make use of existing frameworks and what is the role of nations such as China, Japan and Australia?
• How do we innovate for food security? What are the opportunities and challenges facing our food production systems and value chains. What kinds of research, development and technology initiatives and interventions are needed to meet future food security needs?