Dr. Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager of the APTERR Secretariat, was invited to participate in an online meeting on 27 August 2024, hosted by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), to discuss ERIA’s preliminary study to explore the ‘Local Resource-based Food Reserve (LRBFR)’ mechanism in the ASEAN member states.
Representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS), ERIA’s consultants as well as the focal points of the ASEAN member states were also present in the meeting.
LRBFR was an initiative commended at the ASEAN Leader’s Declaration on Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Response to Crises’ in 2023. It aims to encourage each ASEAN member states to strengthen its own LRBFR in line with the Emergency Preparedness Response (EPR) on food security and nutrition in response to crises in the region.
As the only regional rice reserve mechanism, the APTERR Secretariat shared lessons learned from over a decade of implementation in providing rice assistance to those affected by disasters in the ASEAN region. APTERR’s experiences in overcoming challenges during implementation could be useful for the ASEAN member states in shaping a perspective on establishing LRBFR mechanism in their countries.
