Food Security in the Asia Pacific

Food Security in the Asia Pacific

On 24-25 February 2010 international advisor Patrick Schroeder represented CANGO in Manila, Philippines, at the FAO Regional CSO/NGO Pre-Consultation Meeting on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific Region.

The issue of food security, threatened by volatility in prices and availability, compounded by the financial crisis and climate change, remains a major challenge in the Asia Pacific region. 2009 saw an increase in the number of hungry people by a further 100 million, resulting in global hunger now affecting more than one billion people worldwide, most of which are in Asia.

To address the issues there is a need to establish and increase partnerships between FAO, other UN food related agencies, donors and existing regional integration mechanisms, and the need to explore modalities for CSO and NGO participation at regional level in the new food governance system.

The goal of the consultation was to prepare Asian civil society regional networks for the upcoming FAO Regional Conferences, particularly the upcoming FAO Regional Conference to be held in Korea in September 2010, as well as in other relevant processes within regional and sub-regional bodies dealing with food security and nutrition. CANGO will continue represent Chinese civil society organizations in these regional processes and support the exchanges with other Asian NGOs and FAO on the topic of food security.