One in ten people in ASEAN is hungry and 9.6 per cent of people living in Southeast Asia are under-nourished, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Though many ASEAN countries improved significantly in poverty reduction, and securing adequate food, many are still struggling in producing safe and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life, according to a definition agreed at 1996 World Food Summit.

Food and nutrition security has been put into the global agenda for decades; however, putting sufficient, affordable, nutritious, and safe food on the table for all populations remains a true challenge. This does not include the fact that food production will need to increase by at least 60 per cent to provide food security for the 9 billion people over the next 35 years.

Aiming at improving food and nutrition security in the region, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) has been providing technical supports to ASEAN Member States on policy framework, implementation of production technologies, and market linkages over the past two years since started.

The project gears to increase awareness and understanding of food security and nutrition and the ‘ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework’ among the Member States and pushes for an implementation of national policies and strategies in line with the AIFS Framework as a solution for long-term food security in the ASEAN region. The AIFS Framework was adopted by the ASEAN leaders in 2009, and was reiterated in 2014.

Having this aim in mind, policy dialogues on food security and nutrition and the AIFS Framework in Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Thailand were organised to give platforms for relevant ministries and concerned parties to discuss key challenges, issues, roles and responsible of the agencies concerned, and the contribution of the Sustainable Agrifood Systems towards food security.

In contributing to food security and nutrition policy, trainings on food and nutrition security for regional practitioners, and government officers in Lao PDR, and Thailand were also conducted in 2015 to raise awareness and understating on food and nutrition security and strengthen capacity of the personnel at regional and national levels in developing and implement effective policies and strategies addressing food and nutrition security.

Mr. Cheattho Prak, Deputy Director-General of the General Directorate of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Cambodia said before the regional training he initially only concerned about producing sufficient food to meet the demands of the country when talking about food and nutrition security.

“I am now better aware that food security is also about having a sustained variety of nutritious and safe food. For example, children should know about the kind of food they eat, how to select and cook properly,” he said.

ASEAN SAS has in addition implemented pilot projects with public and private sectors to showcase successful crop protection and pest management models through the use of Biological Control Agents (BCA) and Integrated Pest Management that sustain the livelihoods and competiveness of local agriculture for the future development of regionally-coordinated and national policy and strategy recommendations.

Indonesia, for example, the Project has partnered with the agro-tourism Taman Siamalem Resort (Tsr) together with the Islamic University of North Sumatra in providing knowledge and skills to local farmers on the use of bio-inputs, and giving certification support for organic production. About 70 farmers adopted organic practices and received ‘Organik Indonesia’ certification. Income of organic farmers was increased by 180 percent for growing organic fruits and vegetables since the establishment of partnership.

Ersemina Munthe, farmer from Treasure of Farmers Group – Organik Indah Lestari said: “We have yields increased and earn higher incomes because we change from traditional farming with chemical inputs to organic practices. And, we have farming contract with Tsr which provides us supports needed for organic farming and also receive our produces at a guaranteed price.”

By Rojana Manowalailao, Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Myanmar has been preparing the Development of National Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (2015), which will provide a strategy for strengthening the agricultural food and energy sector, including nutritious food production. U Naing Kyi Win, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Agriculture said during his opening and keynote speech at a high level policy dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework at New Ayar Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on 3rd September 2015.

U Naing Kyi Win highlighted the importance of food and nutrition security in Myanmar through its commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger. He stated that a number of national level initiatives have been undertaken for development of policy and institutional reforms for poverty reduction, national economic development, and human resource development in Myanmar. He believed that this Policy Dialogue would play a significant role in addressing long-term food security and improvement of the livelihood of farmers not only in Myanmar but also in ASEAN Member States.

At the Dialogue, he also emphasised the effort of the Myanmar Government in addressing food security at the regional level by engaging in the development process of the AIFS Framework and its Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS), 2015 – 2020 and by fulfilling an obligation in providing emergency food stocks to the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR).

The Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation hosted the High Level Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework. The German regional cooperation project’s ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) supported the event. The project is part of the ASEAN-German Programme on Response to Climate Change in Agriculture and Forestry (GAP-CC) and is being implemented by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH).

The policy dialogue provided a platform to discuss and exchange information and agree on recommendations, concrete actions and coordination mechanisms to implement national policies and strategies on food and nutrition security in Myanmar in accordance with national, regional, and global policy frameworks. The AIFS Framework, adopted by the ASEAN leaders in 2009, is thereby the key regional framework for Myanmar. The event brought together stakeholders from the Myanmar Government, Development Partners, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector.

Ms. Pouchamarn Wongsanga, Senior Regional Coordinator of the GIZ’s ASEAN SAS highlighted in her welcoming remarks the German efforts to strengthen food and nutrition security through promotion of sustainable agrifood systems under the AIFS Framework. By this, long-term food security and improved livelihoods of farmers could be achieved.

She emphasised that the Policy Dialogue was a crucial step that would lay a foundation for practical implementation of relevant policies and strategies on food and nutrition security in Myanmar. The experiences and opinions to be shared during this Dialogue would be integrated into final recommendations and commitments that would help making progress towards achieving sustainable food production and food security in Myanmar.

ASEAN SAS provides technical assistance to ASEAN Member States of which a number of cooperation activities have been implemented both at national level in Myanmar and in the ASEAN region. Myanmar has been participating in ASEAN SAS activities including the development of the ASEAN Guidelines on the Regulation, Use and Trade of Biological Control Agents (BCA), which were endorsed by ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) in 2014, and the ongoing development of the ASEAN Guidelines on Soil and Nutrient Management, and various capacity development activities to promote food and nutrition security and sustainable agrifood systems.

By definition at the World Food Summit in 1996, food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Sustainable Agrifood systems are a long-term approach towards food security in the ASEAN region as it responds to the region’s special needs. Best practices to achieve sustainable agriculture, to optimise production inputs and the farming practices that integrate climate resilience are being identified and shared. Environment-friendly approaches and the reduction of pesticide use have also come into play to produce safe and good quality agrifood products.

Overall objective of the ASEAN SAS project is to support ASEAN Member States to implement the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework and its Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS). The project focuses on the promotion of sustainable food production at the national level and development of regionally-coordinated policies and strategies for sustainable agriculture as solutions for long-term food security in the region. This includes the promotion of cross-border value chains in concert with public decision-makers, agricultural enterprises as well as farmers and private associations.

The meeting of GIZ with U Kyaw Shwe the Director General of the Department of Agriculture (DoA) of Myanmar to discuss the preparation of the Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security for Myanmar will take place on 23 June 2015 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The Dialogue aims to provide a platform for exchange of information and to build consensus on policies and strategies for tackling food insecurity within the country.

About 30 participants from concerned agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development, the Ministry of National Planning and the Ministry of Commerce are expected to attend the Dialogue.

Food security has been recognised as an important agenda in ASEAN Member States (AMS). Economic crisis and hikes in food prices have a widespread on the nutritional and health status of global people, especially in the developing countries. During the period of 2011 to 2013, an estimated 842.3 million people were undernourished, according to FAO and a large number of people are facing with hunger. Rapid population growth with high food demand has also brought the pressure on food security in Asia.

In addressing long term food security and improve the livelihood of farmers in the region, the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework was adopted by ASEAN at the 14^th ASEAN Summit in 2009 to provide scope and joint pragmatic approaches for cooperation among AMS. The ASEAN leaders reiterated the importance to develop a common and unified position to ensure sustainable food security and nutrition in ASEAN and endorsed the new phase of AIFS Framework and SPA-FS, 2015-2020 at the 25^th ASEAN Summit held in November 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

The government of Myanmar is committed and places first priority on national as well as ASEAN regional food security and nutrition.

The government of Myanmar is now preparing on Development of Food Security and Nutrition Plan (2015), which provided a Strategy for Strengthening the Agricultural Sector, Food and Energy Security, and nutritious food production. Myanmar has to fulfill her obligation of providing emergency food stocks for regional food security. The government of Myanmar has also given priority to reduction 16 % poverty in the nation and adopts the Nation Plan in 2011, which provide the strategy for strengthening the agricultural sector and food security.

In supporting the implementation of AIFS Framework and SPA-FS, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood System (SAS) Project was launched in 2014 as continuation of the ASEAN Biocontrol Project (2011-2013). The project is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and being implemented by German International Cooperation (GIZ). It aims at developing regionally coordinated policies and strategies for sustainable agriculture and food production system.

To promote the implementation of the AIFS Framework, it is important to enhance the understanding and awareness on food security and AIFS framework among policy makers and concerned agencies. This would be also useful for the development of policies and strategies to improve food security in Myanmar in response to the new phase of AIFS Framework and SPA-FS, 2015-2020.