A paddy in Southeast Asia (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – A core element of the UN’sSustainable Development Goals (SDGs), food security, now looms as a priorityfor Southeast Asia, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, accordingto an article published on The Diplomat online news magazine.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption inSoutheast Asia, in terms of the number of deaths, the livelihoods lost, and themajor interruptions to supply chains, it stated.
Moreover, the recent rise in inflation, which has resultedin higher food prices, has severely eroded the purchasing power of households.This has raised questions about the region’s food security, which up untilrecently was primarily the domain of the non-governmental organisation (NGO)community, regional organisations, the United Nations, and individual nations.
Experts stressed that COVID-19 stopped any progress made inaddressing key food security challenges, like climate change and cropproductivity, and exposed previously unknown vulnerabilities, while placing aserious strain on food supply chains.
For Southeast Asian countries, which have always been seenas food insecure, and are also highly vulnerable to climate change, there are anumber of actions that must be addressed immediately.
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), domestic foodproduction in Indonesia has consistently failed to keep up with a growingpopulation, yet the pandemic reduced vital food imports. COVID-19 has similarlydisrupted domestic production and distribution, resulting in deficits in keystaples such as rice, eggs, and sugar.
In Thailand, a drought in 2020 lowered sugar yields, whichcaused production to fall dramatically, while the onset of COVID-19 reduceddemand. The result was a 19 percent decline in Thai sugar exports in 2020.
Refined sugar is shipped in containers. But COVID-19 createdlogistics concerns over warehousing, port congestion, and increased freightcosts. These challenges are not limited to Thailand but are replicatedthroughout the region, the writing underlined.
In addressing disruptions to food supplies beyond thepandemic, facilitating the free flow of goods is vital, as is ensuring anadequate labour supply and better management of border controls.
Currently, sustainable agricultural production in SoutheastAsia is dependent on a stable supply of migrant labour.
Governments in the region need to prioritise migrant farmlabourers in order to prevent food insecurity. During the pandemic, the supplyof migrant workers was compromised as countries tightened border controls.
Addressing marginalisation could protect workers trapped byfuture border restrictions or conflict-related humanitarian crises./.
