Food Security

ASEAN food security has suffered from waning gains in agricultural productivity that were derived  achieved through the First Green Revolution (1960s-1990s). These result from the impacts of climate change on agricultural production, among others, which have led to rising food prices and undernourishment levels, both serving as a clear sign for the need for a “Second Green Revolution” in ASEAN agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worked to reinforce this need, and to expand the prospects for agricultural transformation beyond the production level, and moving it towards developing resilience in regional food supply chains as well. This requires significant financing support to farmers, who are simultaneously food producers, as well as potential users of novel technologies for boosting productivity and supply chain resilience.

Digitalisation in ASEAN Agriculture

Amidst ASEAN’s push for raising the levels of digitalisation integration across the regional, as highlighted by the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Advancing Digital Transformation in ASEAN, and the ASEAN Agreement on Electronic Commerce or AAEC (signed in Hanoi, Vietnam in January 2019), there is emerging focus at the regional institutional level to the application of digital technologies to agriculture. In fact, at the 43^rd Meeting of ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF), “ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting the Utilization of Digital Technologies in the Food and Agriculture Sector” was officially endorsed.

The NTS Centre’s food security team contributes analysis and concrete policy recommendations to support the implementation of existing plans and in increasing utilization of digital technologies towards Climate Smart Agriculture, to achieve food supply chain resilience and food security in ASEAN.

Climate Smart Agriculture in ASEAN and India

Countries within ASEAN as well as India all seek to ensure food security, when “all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” as defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (2002). However, they face natural constraints to ensuring that food supplies are in sufficient quantity for growing populations, and at sufficiently affordable prices, given land limitations, competing uses of resources such as land, water, and labour, and limitations in capital on the part of smallholder farmers. Climate change poses an important constraint that worsens these challenges by reducing the productivity of farmers and of the land, but governance challenges are likewise important in reducing leakages in the uses of scarce state resources and in ensuring that the incentives for farmers and the private sector are aligned with the broader food security objectives.

The application of digital technologies in the agricultural sector can help alleviate many of these challenges raised above. The use of digitalisation was likewise supported by the Seventh ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (7th AIMMAF) on 26 October 2022, in noting the progress of the Medium-Term Plan of Action for ASEAN-India Cooperation in Agriculture and Forestry (2021-2025), including areas of climate smart agriculture as well as some digital technologies including drones and robotics. The 7^th AIMMAF also agreed to further strengthen and deepen collaboration in the priority areas including climate-resilient agriculture and smart farming.

In this regard, the NTS Centre has conducted studies on the potential for “Digital Climate Smart Agriculture in ASEAN and India,” following its proposal during the Seventh Meeting of the ASEAN-India Working Group in Agriculture and Forestry (AIWGAF) on 26 April 2022.

References:

• Montesclaros, Jose Ma. Luis; Teng, Paul S., and Mely Caballero-Anthony. Digital Technology Utilization in the Agriculture Sector for Enhancing Food Supply Chain Resilience in ASEAN: Current Status and Potential Solutions. Project Report, Second Component of the “Enhancing Food Supply Chain Resilience and Food Security in ASEAN with Utilization of Digital Technologies” Project. Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. 2023.
• Montesclaros, Jose Ma. Luis; Teng, Paul S., Mely Caballero-Anthony; and Dipinder S. Randhawa. Commodities of Interest for ASEAN-India Cooperation in Digitalisation towards Climate-Smart Agriculture. Project Report for “Study for Digital Climate Smart Agriculture in ASEAN and India” in collaboration with GIZ. 2023.

2023 Publications

RSIS Commentaries

• Paul Teng and Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, A Revolution in Rice Production?, RSIS Commentary CO23154, 24 October 2023.
• Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, The Dual Mandate of Food Exporting States: India’s Roles in the Global Food Order, RSIS Commentary CO23127, 6 September 2023.
• Tamara Nair, Digital Security’s Place in Human Security, RSIS Commentary CO23121, 29 August 2023.
• Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, Volatility in the Rice Sector: Time for ASEAN to Act?, RSIS Commentary CO23114, 22 August 2023.
• Zhang Hongzhou, Paul Teng and Genevieve Donnellon-May ,China-US Tech War: The Impact on Global Food Security, RSIS Commentary CO23060, 25 April 2023.
• Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, The Philippine Maharlika Investment Fund, RSIS Commentary CO23051, 10 April 2023.
• Paul Teng and Genevieve Donnellon-May, Southeast Asian Food Security One Year Into the Ukraine War, RSIS Commentary CO23041, 21 March 2023.
• Paul Teng and Genevieve Donnellon-May, China’s “Catchup” on Growing Genetically Modified Crops, RSIS Commentary CO23030, 06 March 2023.

NTS/Policy Reports

• Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, Empowering Digitalisation in ASEAN Agriculture: Lessons from EU Regional Platforms for Geospatial Technologies, Singapore: RSIS 14 July 2023.

NTS Insight

• Paul Teng and Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, Is Rice Production Becoming a Wicked Problem?, NTS Insight no. IN23-03, 11 October 2023.

Project Report

• Montesclaros, Jose Ma Luis, Paul S. Teng and Mely Caballero-Anthony, Digital Technology Utilization in the Agriculture Sector for Enhancing Food Supply Chain Resilience in ASEAN: Current Status and Potential Solutions. Project Report, Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, 20 June 2023.

Books and Edited Chapters

• Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, Impact of COVID-19 on Singapore’s Rice Supplies in Jamie S Davidson (Ed.), Just Another Crisis? The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Southeast Asia’s Rice Sector. Singapore: ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, 2023, pp.161-189. ISBN: 9789815011920.

Journal Articles

• Paul Teng, and Jose Ma. Luis P. Montesclaros, “Agricultural Transformation for Small (Island and Developing) States” in Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Vol. 20, No. 1 , 2023, pp. 13–30.