Senior Officials from the Agriculture sector of the ASEAN member countries have gathered in Pattaya to discuss the critical role agriculture plays in improving nutrition and elaborate on strategies for mainstreaming nutrition in the ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework.

The main aim of the meeting is to integrate nutrition considerations into the 2^nd phase of the Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in ASEAN (2015‑2019).

Greater progress can be expected if nutritional objectives, concerns and considerations can be explicitly integrated into agricultural and rural development policies and, more specifically, into regional and national food security policies, strategies and plan of actions.

“Having nutrition as part of the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security for 2015-2019 would lay the foundation for implementation of effective, sustainable and long-term nutrition-sensitive agriculture development and food-based approaches that improve diets and raise levels of nutrition.” said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative. “I am very pleased for this collaborative effort and would like to thank the ASEAN Secretariat for providing enormous support for organization of this meeting for mainstreaming nutrition in the ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and elaborating nutrition component in the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action for Food Security.”