Genevieve Donnellon-May

Opinion | Australia and New Zealand key to ensuring Asean’s food security

The challenges facing East and Southeast Asian nations’ food security efforts require looking farther south for lasting solutions

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A vendor displays onions at Jatinegara market in Jakarta on July 31. Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries could bolster their push for food security by including Australia and New Zealand in regional food-sharing mechanisms. Photo: Bloomberg

Genevieve Donnellon-May

Published: 5:30am, 25 Aug 2024

During a recent Asean-Australia post-ministerial conference in Vientiane, Laos, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi highlighted the critical role partners such as Australia must play in easing the region’s food insecurity.

In recent years, overlapping crises – including pandemics, supply chain disruptions, great power competition, regional tensions and increasingly devastating climate change effects – have caused havoc for regional food supplies and trade.

Food import-reliant Southeast Asian and East Asian countries are among the most affected, and the prospect of additional supply chain disruptions to food imports is undeniably alarming. While some such as the Philippines import more than 25 per cent of their food, others like Singapore import more than 90 per cent.

The food security of Southeast Asia is linked to that of Northeast Asia. Figures for food import dependence in Northeast Asia for key agricultural products are even more alarming. For instance, Japan relies on imports for wheat (83 per cent), soybeans (78 per cent) and edible oils (97 per cent).

Boosting domestic agricultural production seems like the obvious answer. Yet the severity of challenges that countries face, such as land and water constraints, cannot be solved overnight. Instead, a regional approach is needed.

Some steps have already been taken. Notably, the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve with China, Japan, and South Korea provides a collective rice reserve for use in emergencies or natural disasters. However, the current environment shows that stronger measures which draw on leading food-producing partners such as Australia are needed.