Trading Food: Food Security Policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and Their Implications for Trade and Regional Integration

This policy brief examines the responses of developing countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Southern Africa to the 200608 food prices crisis. It analyzes the tension between short-term emergency measures and long-term food security goals, the differing strategies of food self-sufficiency versus food self-reliance, and the failure of regional integration agreements to provide collective economic security during the crisis.

• Many countries responded to the 200608 food prices crisis with short-term policies to lower food prices, which often increased trade barriers and negatively impacted intraregional trade.
• Short-term interventions to mitigate price rises can undermine long-term food security by reducing the net income of food sellers, thereby removing incentives for increased production.
• Food security strategies are generally divided into food self-sufficiency, which emphasizes domestic production within national borders, and food self-reliance, which utilizes international trade to ensure food availability.
• In Southeast Asia, the 200608 food crisis weakened the regional solidarity of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), evidenced by an attempt by rice-exporting countries to form a cartel.
• In Latin America, regional and subregional integration initiatives, such as the Southern Common Market and the Andean Community, played no role in the policy responses to food security concerns, which remained strictly national.
• The document suggests that reconciling trade and food security requires a 'new agricultural deal' at the global level to lower price volatility and ensure fair trade rules, while distinguishing between the food security needs of developing and developed countries.
• Some countries have adopted unilateral measures to secure food supplies, such as China purchasing land in other developing countries.
• Supply-oriented policies to address long-term food security include increasing agricultural investment, improving infrastructure for production and commercialization, providing production subsidies, increasing credit, and improving natural resource management.

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/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf

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/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf.

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=August 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf |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/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }