Food security means that all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to adequate food that is safe and in keeping with social and cultural preferences, to be able to lead an active an d healthy life. FAO identifies four conditions of food security - adequate food supply; stability of food supply without seasonal or yearly fluctuations; physical and economic access to food; food quality and safety.
While there is no single formula to ensure food security, production and distribution of food are key elements. Agriculture is the main source of employment and income in Asia and the Pacific and any hunger reduction strategy for the region must focus on bringing about increases in the productivity and incomes of the small and marginal rural producers.
FAO is also concerned about the impact of liberalization and globalization of trade in agricultural products on food security both at national level and for poor and disadvantaged groups at the household level. The FAO regional office assists countries in incorporating a food security component into national development plans and providing food at minimum cost to vulnerable groups.
The regional office is working to improve the efficiency of key national food agencies and their distribution systems as well as national early - warning systems. It extends technical network activities on food security training and builds national capacities to identify pricing and technical deficiencies.
As a follow - up to the 1996 WFS, FAO conducts annual assessments of the food security situation at the regional, sub - regional and national level. The findings are published in the State of food insecurity in the world reports, which measure year - by - year progress in hunger reduction by the countries of the world and provide a useful policy and planning guidance tool to governments.
Under another post - WFS initiative, FAO is assisting countries in the region, as part of a global initiative, to set up national hunger identification systems. The Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System (FIVIMS) will provide reliable, accurate and consistent information on the extent, nature and causes of food insecurity and vulnerability at sub - national, national, regional and global levels.
Food quality and safety control is equally important for food security. The growing pressure of demand on food production, handling and distribution systems could lead to potentially serious food quality and safety problems. Developing countries in the region must be able to meet internationally accepted food quality and safety standards in order to gain from the liberalization of agricultural trade through strengthening national food safety systems; harmonizing food safety regulations; and participating effectively in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, set up by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Reliable agricultural statistics are vital for national planning and policy making on agriculture and food security. The regional office monitors developments in the fields of food and agricultural statistics. It assists in conducting agricultural censuses and surveys (e.g. use of appropriate methodologies, training of national personnel and the analysis and dissemination of food and agricultural statistics), and works with other international and technical assistance agencies to facilitate cross - sectoral analyses.
FAO is developing a regional information database in the framework of the World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT), which is one of the world's most comprehensive sources of agricultural information. WAICENT offers FAO’s accumulated knowledge and expertise, enabling decision makers and professionals to obtain and use information essential for achieving sustainable agricultural development and helping to combat hunger.
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Strong, representative grassroots institutions are essential for improving rural living conditions. Participation in organizations and institutions at local level significantly improves access to productive resources and enables poor rural households to use these to better their lot. Such institutions include elected bodies, farmers or other rural producers’ associations or cooperatives, civil society, and informal networks reflecting common practices, cultural norms or beliefs.
However, local organizations and institutions in many countries are unable to perform well either in their roles of facilitation, information and advocacy, or in negotiations with external organizations and institutions. Decentralization of and people’s participation in local planning needs to be strengthened as well as access to information and extension, credit and marketing services. Information and expertise in best practices on rural development needs to be encouraged, and socio - economic indicators to measure progress in equity need to be refined.
Women make up more than 40 percent of the rural workforce in the Asia-Pacific region and are the main performers of vital agricultural tasks - from conservation of plant seed, sowing and weeding crops, to processing the harvest. Yet, their contribution is often underestimated and overlooked in development plans and strategies, due in part to the lack of gender disaggregated data.
It is more difficult for women to get access to land, credit and other agricultural inputs such as technology, extension, training and services. Inheritance and land tenure laws limit women’s ownership and use of land. In the poorest and most populous countries of the region, the majority of girls are still denied access to basic education, further restricting their ability to take advantage of the limited opportunities they have to improve their circumstances.
The FAO Gender and Development Plan of Action (2002 - 2007) provides an organizational framework to mainstream gender in FAO activities. Priority areas identified for gender mainstreaming are food and nutrition, natural resource management, agriculture support systems and agriculture and rural development policy and planning.
Due to enormous variations in agro - ecological and socio - economic contexts, Asia-Pacific countries need to tailor agricultural extension programmes and methodological links to the needs of the farmers. Alternative policies, strategies, approaches and systems need to address extension management and extension - research - education linkages. Also, gender considerations need to be introduced in national agricultural education, research, extension and development programmes.
Continuous planning, monitoring and evaluation of extension programmes is needed, as well as the introduction of participatory and cost - effective extension methodologies and gender - sensitive programmes based on participatory rural appraisal.
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The past two FAO
regional conferences for Asia and the Pacific highlighted the devastation in
food and agriculture caused by disasters. The conferences reiterated the WFS
commitment to prevent, mitigate and improve the management of disasters in food
and agriculture and recommended FAO technical assistance in the tasks. An
Asia-Pacific conference on early warning, prevention, preparedness and
management of disasters in food and agriculture was held in Chiang Mai in June
2001 directed at laying the foundations of country disaster management
programmes targeted at the farmer. It stressed the best farming systems and
practices to be recommended to farmers in disaster - prone areas and the
essential supporting services which governments must provide. All 38
Asia-Pacific FAO member countries were invited to attend as well as 12 concerned
international organizations. The outcome of the conference is reported in
publication RAP 2001/14.