Trading Food: Food security policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and their implications for trade and regional integration

This synthesis report analyzes policy responses to the 2006-2008 food prices crisis in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Southern Africa, evaluating their economic sustainability and impact on trade and regional integration.

• Food security concerns are difficult to address using a trade agenda focused on liberalizing investment and trade flows or reducing protectionist and subsidy-intensive policies.
• When policy-makers perceive food insecurity risks as stemming from international phenomena like global market volatility, they are likely to implement measures that limit the interaction between the national economy and the external environment to satisfy national constituencies.
• Several factors contribute to the rise of unilateral or bilateral state management of trade and investment in agriculture, including production subsidies in wealthy nations, a lack of vulnerability-reduction mechanisms in least-developed countries, commodity exchange speculation, and weak regional cooperation.
• Achieving food security compatible with trade liberalization requires a global "new agricultural deal" that encourages fair trade rules, reduces international price volatility, and increases agricultural investment, based on the principle that developed and developing countries should be treated differently according to their needs.
• While multilateral agreements are primary for reconciling trade and food security, regional cooperation can reduce costs and uncertainty during crises. For regional agreements to be credible crisis management tools, they require institutional strengthening through established rules and disciplines that encourage cooperative behavior.

APA

Veiga,, P. D. M. (2010). Trading Food: Food security policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and their implications for trade and regional integration. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/trading-food-food-security-policies-latin-america-southeast-asia-and-southern

Chicago

Veiga,, Pedro da Motta. Trading Food: Food security policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and their implications for trade and regional integration. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/trading-food-food-security-policies-latin-america-southeast-asia-and-southern.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Veiga, |first1=Pedro da Motta |title=Trading Food: Food security policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and their implications for trade and regional integration |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=31 August 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/trading-food-food-security-policies-latin-america-southeast-asia-and-southern |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{veiga2010trading, author = {Veiga,, Pedro da Motta}, title = {{Trading Food: Food security policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and their implications for trade and regional integration}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/trading-food-food-security-policies-latin-america-southeast-asia-and-southern}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }