Food security in Asia: recent experiences, issues and challenges

After the sharp food price increases of 2007–2008 food security has once again become a major issue of global concern. When that food price spike was followed by the global financial crisis of 2008, a large increase in the number of food insecure people in Asia was widely expected. But Asian countries managed to avoid such a sharp increase in food insecurity, even though sharp price spikes have recurred since then. In this paper we show how government policy measures largely insulated consumers from severe price increases and maintained food security, but note that this success came at a price. In particular, the global food trading system was weakened, producer incentives were further distorted, and policies that may impose high long-term efficiency costs became more deeply entrenched. Major policy challenges need to be addressed to ensure Asia's food security over the coming decades.