The APTERR Secretariat attended a webinar held by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for addressing the imperative of enhancing food security in Southeast Asia on 20 October 2023 titled “Strengthening Food Security in Southeast Asia: Regional Cooperation, Market Development and Policy Reforms”.
Currently, the ADB has provided technical assistance to support the APTERR in reviewing its existing mechanism to ensure that the humanitarian assistance is provided in a timely and efficient manner. This cooperation significantly contributes to fortifying the resilience of the region in the face of future food-related challenges, with the ultimate aim of ensuring a more secure and sustainable food security for the people in the region.
This webinar was divided into three themes and APTERR was discussed under Theme 1: ‘Developing Emergency Rice Reserve System: Lessons learned from ASEAN Regional Cooperation Framework’. The other two themes were ‘Fostering Rice Futures Market in Southeast Asia’ and ‘Strengthening Food Security Policy: Country Case Study in Malaysia’.
Mr. Shingo Kimura, Senior Natural resources and Agriculture Specialist, Agriculture, Food, Nature and Rural Development Sector Office of ADB invited Mr. Qingfeng Zhang, Senior Sector director, Food, Nature and Rural Development Sector Office of ADB, and Dr. Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager (GM) of the APTERR Secretariat to address the opening remarks for the webinar.
The ADB consultant team consisted of three experts who delivered insights on various aspects:
- Loudes Adriano has presented on the ASEAN integrated food security (AIFS) framework and the strategic plan of action (SPA-FS)
- Roehl Briones has presented on the Emergency Rice Reserve System: 10 years of implementation in ASEAN (Tier 1 - 3 and Food Emergency Monitoring and Information)
- David Dawe has presented on the rice trade and the increasing role of the private sector in Asia.
During these discussions, valuable additional information, recommendations, and comments were contributed by member countries, international organisations, and stakeholders. Ms. Rosalyn D. Comia, Division Manager of National Food Authority (NFA) of the Philippines, and Mr. Kenji Okuhira, Director, Grain Trade and Operation Division, Crop Production Policy Department, Crop Production Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan has presented on their countries’ activities for APTERR. Dr. Sumanya Ngandee, Manager of the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) has presented an overview of AFSIS. Mr. Abdullah Mamun, International Food Policy Research Institute has presented the global rice market and export restriction. Additionally, Mr. Andrew McKenzie, a Professor at the University of Arkansas has presented on the role of rice futures market in Southeast Asia.
The APTERR mechanism is very well recognised as Dr. Cherdsak Virapat, Director General of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) which is one of the international organisations, has presented an overview of CIRDAP activities and shown interest in adopting and replicating the concept of APTERR to Southeast Asia region.
Dr. Karnjanakesorn has requested to all participants and stakeholders to support the review conducted by the ABD consultant team. This support would involve providing input comments to the ADB consultant team in order that they can obtain a full range of information to analyse and synthesise. The recommendations and suggestions can be generated for improving the implementation and mechanism of APTERR.
GM of the APTERR Secretariat also expressed gratitude to the ADB for providing technical assistance to the APTERR Secretariat and to the ADB consultant team for their efforts in reviewing APTERR and called upon member countries, international organisations, and all stakeholders to contribute their input comments to the ADB consultant team.
