Asean Urged to Make Resilience Its Food Security Goal
A new policy review argues that production-focused strategies no longer suffice as overlapping crises strain food systems across Southeast Asia.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Organic Food
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Dr. Paul Teng of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore published a policy review calling on Asean to make resilience the strategic food security objective. The paper appeared in the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development.
Why it matters
Southeast Asia is a major global food producer and exporter, yet food insecurity and undernutrition persist within its borders. The review argues that judging food security primarily through production is insufficient in an era of polycrisis.
Roughly 14 percent of Southeast Asians face moderate or severe food insecurity, and 5.1 percent of the region's population is undernourished. The review does not report how these shares have shifted in recent years.
The players
Dr. Paul Teng
Dr. Paul Teng is the author of the policy review and a researcher at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
The ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute is a Singapore-based research institute focused on Southeast Asian affairs, where the paper's author is based.
Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development
The Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development is an international refereed journal published by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.
The details
The paper examines how climatic shocks, geopolitical conflict, energy and fertilizer price volatility, biological threats, trade restrictions, and economic pressures can occur simultaneously and amplify one another. It proposes keeping intra-Asean food trade open, diversifying external sources, strengthening agricultural input security, and expanding climate-resilient production.
Timeline
The Asean Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan covers 2026-30.
The policy review was published and reported on November 7, 2026.
Season Trajectory
The review positions itself against the Asean Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan covering 2026-30, arguing that its production-centered framing should give way to a resilience objective. It calls for a shift from output targets toward keeping regional trade open and diversifying supply sources.
For shoppers in the region, the review's emphasis on keeping intra-Asean food trade open bears directly on how reliably staple foods move across borders. The paper frames food security as a question of access and supply stability rather than output alone.
The takeaway
Food security depends not only on how much a region produces but on whether supply can absorb simultaneous shocks. The review suggests readers and policymakers alike should weigh trade openness and input security alongside harvest totals.
Further reading
For broader background on how food systems are being rethought, see Organic Food.
Source note: This article includes information reported by BusinessMirror.
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